Magic School Bus Author Has Passed Away
Recently, fans who grew up with The Magic School Bus series books and adaptation were delighted to learn that there would be a new adaptation, when Elizabeth Banks was cast as Ms. Frizzle. Now, sadly, it’s been announced that Joanna Cole, the creator of the series that brought joy to so many children with stories filled with fantasy and science, passed away at age seventy-five on July 12th. The former school librarian and children’s book editor published her first book in 1971 titled Cockroaches. “…I had ample time to study that creature in my low-budget New York apartment!”
Disney Publishing + Melissa de la Cruz
Disney Publishing has partnered with author Melissa de la Cruz to create a new studio, which will make content with established and new authors that will be developed across Disney’s multiple platforms. And for Blue Bloods series fans, starting next year Disney will publish new installments.
New Bookish Podcast
Marc Lamont Hill–author, BET news host, and owner of Philadelphia’s Uncle Bobbies Coffee and Books–has started a podcast: Coffee and Books! The first episode is up and he talks about James Baldwin with Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.
Contemporary Native Literature
This is a starting point for recognizing the diversity of contemporary Native literature and its different genres, styles, and movements.