Tis the season for resolutions and goal setting.  I have noticed on Goodreads that my friends have set goals for the number of books they want to read in 2018. I myself take the Goodreads Reading Challenge each year as one of my New Year’s Resolutions.

But this year I want to do more to honor the creators of all the books I enjoy so dearly. We know they don’t mysteriously show up in our bookstores, libraries, and beside tables-someone took the stories in their heads and crafted them into words that publishers printed into books. Many of of us often post reviews on Goodreads, comments on social media, and occasionally an Amazon review. This helps these authors we love by expanding their potential audience and getting their books into the hands of our young readers.

It takes time and talent to be an author. It also takes courage.  Putting your ideas out into the world is not easy. Rejections, critiques, and judgements are not for the faint of heart. Knowing that my favorite books came to life because their writers persevered, creates some seriously good feels for those audacious authors.

So I encourage everyone who loves reading and loves books to resolve to show a little love for the authors who make it all possible.  (I know many of you already do, so consider yourself the chorus I am singing to) .

Finish a book you love?

• Tweet about it-post a picture and tag the author
• Instagram or Facebook it in the same way
• Add it to Goodreads with a quick review
• Go to Amazon (even if you don’t shop there) and post a review-this seriously helps generate buzz for books that independent booksellers notice, too.
• Message your local library or bookseller and encourage them to acquire it.
• Get it in the hands of every student (if it’s kidlit) or friend that you can.

Sharing your book love is the best way to thank those authors who enrich our lives. Any of these actions would take less than 5 minutes.  I already do many of these things, but not as consistently as I’d like.  I’m going to resolve to do one or two responses each time I read a book I love.

I’m also going to hashtag it #KidLitLove so that I can search back for books during the year. I’d love it if you used the tag, too.

Here’s to a great year of reading in 2018. Thank you to everyone who makes that happen!

What’s On My Book Radar?

Patina by Jason Reynolds

Patina is the 2nd book in Jason Reynold’s TRACK series and it is as fantastic as the first (Ghost). Patina and her sister Maddy are being raised by their uncle Tony and Aunt Emily (Momly) after their father dies and their mother has lost her legs to diabetes. She is enrolled in a fancy charter school where she is the token “raisin in the milk” but finds her place as one of the fastest runners on the Defenders track team. Running is the outlet “Patty” needs to show herself and others that she can be brave and strong. Reynolds has an incredible way of shining a light on the trauma and tragedy of so many lives without invoking pity or shame. This is a must-read series for middle grade/middle school readers who don’t need to wait for others to define what success is.