Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Acclaimed Bestseller Braiding Sweetgrass is Being Adapted for Young Readers
Lerner Publishing Group and Milkweed Editions are partnering up to create a young reader’s adaptation of botanist and Citizen Potawatomi Nation member Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. The young adult version will include illustrations and will be adapted by Monique Gray Smith (Cree), with editing by Shaina Olmanson, the Editorial Director for Young Adult Nonfiction at Lerner Publishing Group. The book is planned for publication in fall 2022.
Hasan Minhaj to Play the Riddler in Batman Unburied
Comedian Hasan Minhaj has joined the cast of the Spotify podcast Batman Unburied as the Riddler. Others joining the cast include Lance Reddick as Batman’s father, Thomas Wayne; Toks Olagundoye as Batman’s mother, Martha Wayne; John Rhys-Davies as Dr. Hunter; and Ashly Burch as Vicki Vale. Batman Unburied is written by David S. Goyer and stars Winston Duke as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jason Isaacs as Alfred. No release date has been announced for the podcast yet.
English Exam Board Doubles Choice of Books by Authors of Color
OCR, one of the UK’s leading examination boards has added several books by authors of color to increase diversity in the curriculum. Now 28% of texts available for study for OCR’s GCSE and A-level courses will be written by authors of color – the majority of them women. One of the novels newly included in the curriculum is Girl, Woman, Other, the 2019 Booker prize-winning novel by Bernadine Evaristo. In a statement about the changes, Evaristo said, “I feel very privileged to know that my work will be taught in schools alongside other books that broaden our understanding of the role of literature in contemporary society, and which explore what it means to be human from multiple, instead of limited, perspectives.”
The 2021 National Book Awards Longlists Have Been Announced
The National Book Foundation has announced the longlists for the 2021 National Book Awards. The awards are divided into five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.