I'm honored to share that the Catholic Library Association awarded me the 2025 St. Katharine Drexel Award, which recognizes an outstanding contribution to the growth of high school librarianship.
This award goes to one person per year, and the recipient is not always an author.
Among the past honorees who are/were authors: Jason Reynolds, Gene Luen Yang, Jacqueline Woodson, Lois Duncan, Walter Dean Myers, Chris Crutcher, Sharon Draper, and [in 1970] Isaac Asimov.
When I was notified, at first I wondered [and respectfully asked] if there had been a mistake—for multiple reasons:
That's a mighty distinguished list of authors.
My books don't have Catholic content.
I'm Jewish [though I was already fairly confident that was okay].
Most of my work is aimed at kids younger than teens [though I do often speak to teens].
CLA confirmed there had not been a mistake. The nomination process is confidential, meaning they can't tell me who nominated me.
Whoever you are, thank you! I am grateful that you recognized that work like mine can resonate with readers older than the primary target audience.
During my acceptance talk, with a pinch of trepidation, I briefly, organically mentioned my experiences, both negative and positive, saying "gay" during elementary assemblies, and felt warmly understood and supported.
I also showed off perhaps my all-time favorite snippet from the principal of a school that booked me to speak [in this case, a Catholic school in Connecticut].
First, I love that the schedule says "enjoy lunch with the sisters of the convent." Not "eat lunch." Not simply "lunch." Specifically enjoy lunch. I followed that commandment and, no surprise, did enjoy it. [First and last meal with a dozen nuns.]
Second, as you see, this principal was more than a principal. All are, but none like this.
On 4/22/25, I attended my first Supreme Court rally. In fact, though I’ve lived in the Washington DC area for 15 years, it may have been the first time I’d been in front of the Supreme Court.
Despite the impression that photo gives, the rally was well attended.
It coincided with oral arguments for Mahmoud vs. Taylor, a case about a Maryland school district policy that does not allow parents to opt their children out of educational experiences (in particular, picture books) that mention the existence of LGBTQ people.
It happens to be my school district, Montgomery County. I am proud that MCPS enacted this policy and, frankly, furious that people who see the world as it is have to spend so much time (and money) trying to explain the basic principle of “live and let live” to people who expect schools to bend to their intolerant worldview.
Those protesting the policy carried signs reading “Let parents parent” and “Let kids be kids.”
This policy does not prevent parents from parenting or kids from kidding.
When I walked to the opposing side to be available for conversation (knowing no sign would change anyone’s mind), one man civilly engaged, though his position was savagely misguided. A rule he has for his kids: you cannot be gay.
If only he’d learned in school that this is not how it works. Being gay is not a choice (or a performance/disease/brainwashing), as some conservatives believe. It’s simply what some people are.
A parent who has challenged the policy asked me to leave their area. When I politely declined, he tattled on me to a Supreme Court police officer, whose response was “Just don’t shout at them.” (No one was shouting at anyone. In other words, he knew I had every right to be where I was.)
NBC News asked me some questions.
The short clip also includes someone who thinks he is protecting his grandkids from “values” he doesn’t agree with. Based on what we’ve widely seen from Generation Z, it seems likely that those grandkids will reject their grandfather’s repugnant stance.
Among the thousands of comments on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, ones disagreeing with me alternate between these points:
Check this guy’s hard drive.
People like you are why Trump won again.
So public schools can also teach the Bible?
(Sometimes this is expressed in language that is decisively not biblical.)
As for the Trump comment, it carries weight. But I’m not one to abandon my principles over an election, even one as ruinous as this one is.
The commenters agreeing mostly echo the sign I held: education does not equal indoctrination.
It is illogical that some adults believe that a relationship between a man and a woman is an acceptable topic for kids but no other kinds of relationships are.
It is illogical that some adults do not associate the mere mention of a straight relationship with sex but do associate the mere mention of a gay relationship with sex.
(It should go without saying, but since the anti-gay crowd brings it up incessantly, apparently this does need to be spelled out: in neither case are responsible adults talking to elementary kids about sex.)
Children who are not LGBTQ and learn that this community exists are not hurt by that knowledge.
Conversely, children who are LGBTQ—or who have LGBTQ families members—are hurt by policy that forbids that topic to even be mentioned. (And when disapproving adults do mention it, it’s to call gay people perverts and sinners, deepening the wound.)
We don’t hear about religious teens committing suicide because they know about gay people.
We do hear about LGBTQ teens committing suicide because their community doesn’t want to know about gay people.
If the opponents to this policy truly cared about protecting kids, they’d switch sides.
Again, what kids learn in school—and in life—does not prevent parents from parenting. Unfortunately, some parenting prevents kids from learning.
