This 12 months has been a difficult one for readers of all ages. More and more, an onslaught of e book bans, scripted studying packages, funds cuts, and different restrictions appear to restrict younger individuals’s entry to books and deny them alternatives to attach with studying. In many faculties and libraries, educators and librarians concern legislative mandates that search to criminalize studying advisory and strip professionals of decision-making autonomy.
On the identical time that many younger individuals lack significant connections with books, many individuals who’ve beforehand written critiques for us or participated within the Nerdy Ebook Membership Awards (the Nerdies) have misplaced entry to books themselves. Lots of the common readers of this weblog have advised me that you just’re unable to learn aloud or share books together with your college students anymore due to restrictive insurance policies. Folks admit that you just’re not studying a lot yourselves. For these causes, we hesitated to host our annual e book awards this 12 months.
How can we rejoice the brand new and noteworthy books from 2024 when educators, librarians, and households aren’t studying many books in any respect? Despite the obstacles, a stalwart group of educators and librarians continues to advertise and rejoice the brand new and notable kids’s and younger grownup books being revealed. If for no different motive, areas just like the Nerdy Ebook Membership supply a constructive place to uplift younger individuals and the books written for them. In a 12 months when fewer and fewer readers appear to have significant entry to present books or details about new publications, actions just like the Nerdies intention to advertise real studying experiences.
As writer Vera Nazarian stated, “Everytime you learn a very good e book, someplace on the earth a door opens to permit in additional gentle.” Let’s encourage as a lot studying as doable and enhance the sunshine.
The Nerdies are nominated by the general public, together with younger individuals and their caregiving adults. I believe the Nerdies characterize the books that academics, librarians, and households—who’re looking for expansive studying experiences—need for his or her kids. The Nerdies embrace a present mixture of genres, codecs, voices, and kinds; books with literary advantage AND child enchantment; the books that interact children with studying and the world round them.
Right here is how the Nerdies work:
The 2024 Nerdy Nomination Poll is open till Sunday, January twelfth at midnight Jap Time. You could have just a few days to assemble your nominations and submit them. Nominate as much as 5 books in every of the next classes:
Image Books: Fiction
Image Books: Nonfiction
Early Readers/ Chapter Books
Graphic Novels
Poetry and Novels in Verse
MG/YA Nonfiction
Center Grade Fiction
Younger Grownup Fiction
All nominees will need to have been revealed in 2024 and written for kids or younger adults. You do not want to appoint books in each class. You should not have to appoint 5 books per class, both. You do not want to have expertise throughout codecs and age ranges. What forms of books did you learn and share with younger individuals and their households this 12 months?
When nominating books, contemplate Nerdy Ebook Membership’s Ebook Lists and Suggestion Coverage, which requires inclusiveness and equitable illustration in all advice lists featured on this weblog. Take into account books that includes a variety of voices, views, and lived experiences when making your nominations.
After tallying the ballots, we are going to announce the 2024 Nerdies record in each day class posts starting January nineteenth and ending with our two-day Younger Grownup Fiction posts.
Be a part of us in honoring the 2024 books that your kids, college students, and you liked to learn this 12 months. Irrespective of which titles wind up on our ultimate record, you’ll uncover some nice books to learn and share. Thanks for collaborating and for being nerdy with us for an additional 12 months!
Donalyn Miller is a Texas educator and the writer or co-author of quite a few books, articles, and essays about partaking younger individuals with studying and making certain significant e book entry. Her most up-to-date books are The Pleasure of Studying (2022) co-written with Teri Lesesne and The Commonsense Information to Your Classroom Library (2022) co-written with Colby Sharp. Donalyn lives in downtown San Antonio together with her partner and their overflowing bookshelves. You could find Donalyn on-line as @donalynbooks on Threads, Instagram, and Bluesky. You possibly can learn her common Substack posts at Our Studying Lives.