A discussion with three creatives who’ve faced the challenges head-on. More than 4,200 book titles were targeted for censorship in 2023 in the United States alone. Special interest groups have taken aim at limiting access to books in public and school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92 percent over the previous year. What happens when you, as an author or illustrator, have a book that’s been challenged or banned? How does it affect your career? Your future creative endeavors? Your responsibility to push back and challenge the challenges? Join these KidLit creators – whose books have been challenged or banned – for an insightful discussion about their experiences: Dori Hillestad Butler (My Mom’s Having a Baby! and the King & Kayla series) Yangsook Choi (The Name Jar) Kirby Larson (Dash) Knowledge is power. Let’s gather to discuss how we can best respond to the current wave of censorship.
DORI HILLESTAD BUTLER has published more than 60 books for kids including the two-time Geisel Honor award winning King & Kayla series and a picture book entitled, My Mom’s Having a Baby, which was #4 on ALA’s list of most challenged books in 2012. She lives in Kirkland.
YANGSOOK CHOI grew up in Korea and started drawing at age four. Since moving to New York to pursue her art, she has written and illustrated many books for young readers. Her books have been acclaimed as a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year and an American Library Association Notable Book.
KIRBY LARSON is the acclaimed author of many books for young people, including the 2007 Newbery Honor Book Hattie Big Sky; Dash, winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction; Duke; Liberty; Code Word Courage; Gut Reaction (with her daughter Quinn Wyatt), and the new Shermy and Shake chapter book series, to name a few.