ALA 2025 Conference Resource Center

Image that reads "MacKids School and Library ALA 2025 Resources"

We’re so excited to see our librarian friends on June 27 to June 30 in Philadelphia!

What’s inside

What’s inside

What’s inside

What’s inside our ALA Resource Center:
  • Make the most of your ALA experience + meet your favorite authors & illustrators!
    Check our ALA schedule for a full list of in-person author programs and book signings.
  • We’ve collected our digital resources for you in this handy resource center!
    Download our digital catalogs, request digital preview copies, and fill out our checklist survey for your chance to win a collection of free books for your library!
  • Not attending ALA?
    You can still download digital resources, request preview copies, and more!
Visit the ALA Resource Center here →

A Teacher’s Guide for Middle-Grade Graphic Memoirs

Real Life, Frame by Frame: A Teacher's Guide for Middle-Grade Graphic Memoirs

In the six graphic memoirs included in this teacher’s guide, you’ll find stories that make your students feel seen and that make the unremarkable feel remarkable. This guide includes discussion questions for six middle grade graphic novel memoirs, a guide for young readers to create their own graphic novel memoirs, and more recommendations for even more memorable graphic novels inspired by real life.

Watch our Fall 2025 School & Library Virtual Preview!

Fall 25 Preview


Watch our MacKids School & Library Fall 2025 Preview Event, where we previewed upcoming picture books, middle grade, young adult, and adult titles! You’ll hear from talented creators Kevin Maillard and Rafael López (And They Walk On), Craig Kofi Farmer (A Method for Magic and Misfortune), and Deborah Heiligman (Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)). 

Plus, author María Dolores Águila introduced her middle grade debut novel in verse, A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez, based on the true story of one child’s courage to stand against segregation. You’ll also hear from the Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Rebecca Stead! She was in conversation discussing her new fast-paced coming-of-age novel (with aliens!), The Experiment, which asks universal questions about how we figure out who we want to be, and whether it’s ever too late to change.

And, don’t miss our exclusive cover reveal of a new book by Newbery Honoree and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Warga!

Timestamps:
3:32 – María Dolores Águila introduces A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez
14:50 – Picture Books
15:49 – Rafael López And They Walk On
24:13 – Middle Grade
28:29 – Craig Kofi Farmer A Method for Magic and Misfortune
37:06 – Jasmine Warga cover reveal of The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan
41:36 – Young Adult
42:48 – Deborah Heiligman Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)
50:28 – Rebecca Stead in conversation The Experiment

Discussion Guide: The Song of Orphan’s Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt

The Song of Orphan's Garden Graphic

The Song of Orphan's Garden Book Cover

The Song of Orphan’s Garden
By Nicole M. Hewitt
Ages 8-12
On Sale Now!
A Junior Library Guild Selection

Combining the gentleness of Miyazaki, the wintry wonderland of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the whimsicality of Newbery winner The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Nicole M. Hewitt’s debut middle-grade novel, The Song of Orphan’s Garden, is an enchanting fantasy tale with all the makings of a new classic.

In an arctic world that’s getting colder every day, Lyriana’s only hope of survival is to get her little brother Zave and herself to the fabled Orphan’s Garden. It’s rumored to be the one place in the world not controlled by deadly Winter Spirits or ruled by the tyrant Giant king. In Orphan’s Garden, healing trees will melt away Winter’s pains, and Lyriana and Zave can live safely in the warmth of Spring. If the garden exists, they must find it. They won’t live much longer without it.

Brob, a Giant boy, also needs sanctuary. When the Giant king banishes his family to the Winter Blight, it’s a death sentence. Orphan’s Garden is his family’s only hope, and as far as Brob’s concerned, it belongs to him. After all, he was the one who accidentally used an ancient magic to grow the garden years ago. He has no intention of sharing his haven with pesky humans, who will just use up its magic and ruin it.

When it becomes clear that Orphan’s Garden is in danger of being destroyed, Lyriana and Brob are the only ones who can save it—but only if they can put the ages-old battle between Humans and Giants aside and find a way to work together.

dOWNLOAD THE dISCUSSION gUIDE FOR The song of orphan’s garden hERE →

Books for Jewish American Heritage Month

jewish-american-heritage-month-2025

In May, we celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month by reading and sharing stories by Jewish American authors and illustrators. Celebrate in your school or library by uplifting these voices all year round! Enter a sweepestakes below for the chance to win an advance reading copy of Caldecott Medalist Uri Shulevitz’s final work, The Sky Was My Blanket. Find more resources on the Jewish American Heritage Month website.

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Enter for a chance to win a galley of Caldecott Medalist Uri Shulevitz’s final work, The Sky Was My Blanket: A Young Man’s Journey Across Wartime Europe. From celebrated Caldecott Award-winning illustrator Uri Shulevitz comes the gripping and revealing true story of a young Polish exile fighting to survive in war-torn Europe. Inspired by the true story of Uri’s uncle and stunningly illustrated by the author, this is a unique and riveting account of one man’s courage and resilience amidst one of the darkest periods in global history.

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