Podcast

A primer on tropes and cultural impact of romance, with lots of book recommendations, so you’re going to want to listen to this one with the TBR open. MA Librarians Sofia Safran, Boston Latin School, and Ella Stocker, Amherst Regional High School, talk to Luke and Laura all about romance books, the gap between YA & MG, representation across different mediums and how these books are landing with young readers. Also: Ella says “quirky Vicar,” Sophia revisits the Hunger Games as an adult, Laura can’t stand fake dating, and Luke mentions the 80s, twice.

Keefe Library Website, https://libguides.bls.org/keefehome

ARHS Library Google Site

The New Fabio is Claude (NYT gift link, Feb 2026)

Jenny Han

Rachel Lynn Solomon

Axie Oh

Emma Lord, https://www.emmalordwriting.com/home 

KA Walther, https://www.klwalther.com/ 

Sarah Dessen, https://www.sarahdessen.com/ 

Lynn Painter, https://lynnpainter.com/ 

Kasie West, https://kasiewest.com/ 

Summer I turned Pretty (TV show)

Red, White, and Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston

The New Fabio Is Claude, New York Times, Feb. 8, 2026,

Forever Young Adult Blog, reviewes the new Sarah Dessen

‘Romancelandia’ on instagram

Cat Sebastian, https://catsebastian.com/ 

Emiko Jean, Love Me Tomorrow

Hari O’Connor, I Shall Never Fall in Love

Alix E. Harrow, The Everlasting

The Great Disillusionment of Nick and Jay By Ryan Douglass

A Practical Guide to Dating a Demon By Hannah Reynolds

Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

The Princess Diaries

Katharine McGee, American Royals

As You Wish, by Neshae Jones 

Swordheart, T. Kingfisher 

Courtesy of Cupid, by Neshae Jones

Bye Forever I Guess, Jodi Meadows

Bookish Boyfriends series, Tiffany Schmidt 

Lovesick Falls, Julia Drake

The Favorites, by Layne Fargo

Heated Rivalry

Breaking the Ice, Natalie Blitt

Love in Gelato, Jenna Evans welch

All you Knead is Love, Tanya Guerrero 

Love Report, BeKa, illus. By Maya

The Girl from the Sea, Molly Ostertag

Lunar New Year Love Story, Gene Luen Yang 

Punpkuin Heads, Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell

Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian

Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Beth Brower

Pennyroyal Green, Julie Anne Long

Elizabeth Hoyt

Mockingjay 

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora, Pablo Cartaya

Bill Konigsberg, Destination Unknown

"The Publishing Industry’s Most Swoon-Worthy Genre" (The Atlantic, Oct 2025)

“Not Just Love, Actually: Why Romance Fiction Is Booming” (The Guardian, Dec 2025)

"Why Are So Many Romance Novels Written In The First Person?" (Slate Magazine, March 2026)

In the first live recording of the MSLA Podcast, former MSLA President and Westborough HS Librarian Anita Cellucci joins us for a talk about librarianship since her presidency, the state of mass mental health, and ways in which her current library efforts, informed by community assets local to her school, the MSLA, and thought leaders, have forged a path of Social-Emotional Learning in the library. This was recorded live at the MSLA Conference, on Apr 13, 2026.

The slideshow referenced in the talk is linked here, and includes helpful graphics!

Leslie Manitoes, GID, https://guidedinquirydesign.com/ 

Carol Kuhlthau, https://wp.comminfo.rutgers.edu/ckuhlthau/ 

Simon Sinek, https://simonsinek.com/ 

Daniel Pink, https://www.danpink.com/ 

Rachel Kessler, https://creducation.net/resources/The_Teaching_Presence.pdf

Parker Palmer, https://couragerenewal.org/about-us/

Angela Maiers, Classroom Habitudes, https://angelamaiers.com/classroom-habitudes-in-action/ 

Brene Brown, https://brenebrown.com/ 

Media Literacy in Massachusetts: A Landscape Scan & Policy Recommendations (2025) https://medialiteracynow.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MLN_MA-DESE-Media-Literacy-Report-updated.pdf 

Barbara Johnson, AASL President, https://msla.wildapricot.org/Podcast/13610188 

NAMI, National Alliance of Mental Illness, https://namimass.org/ 

MBLC Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), https://mblc.state.ma.us/programs-and-support/lsta/index.php 

NAMI “In Our Own Voice” https://www.nami.org/programs/nami-in-our-own-voice/ 

Rick Hanson, PHD, Buddha’s Brainhttps://rickhanson.com/writings/books/buddhas-brain/

NAMI workshops and programs https://namimass.org/nami-mass-programs/

Becky Sniffen, librarian from the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, and Alissa Rosellini, Lower School Librarian at Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill, are going to be at the MSLA conference evangelizing Battle of the Books. Both librarians are fostering this program in Massachusetts, bringing their experiences from Oregon and Montreal. The pair hope to bring structure and sustainability to this quiz-show style program, where teams battle at local, and then (eventually, hopefully) regional and statewide levels to , according to Alissa, “combine a love of reading and a love of competition.”

They’d like your help, too! Becky and Alissa are already thinking of next year’s battles, and if you want to get involved, email Becky at Rsniffen@pvcics.org.

Links for those curious:

https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/ 

https://www.massbook.org/mass-book-awards/ 

https://www.salemstate.edu/mcba 

https://www.massbook.org/readingchallenge 

World Read Aloud Day, https://www.litworld.org/world-read-aloud-day 

https://www.rituhemnani.com/lion-of-the-sky 

Sora.com

The Unforgettable Logan Foster, https://www.shawnpeterswrites.com/ 

https://www.mateenchoicebook.org/ 

https://battleofthebooksgt.org/ 

Wrath of the Rain God, https://karlavalenti.com/books/legendarios-book-1/ 

Duel, https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Duel/Jessixa-Bagley/9781534496545

Wilson Middle School (Natick) Special Education Administrator Andrea Gellerstein and children’s book author Erin Dionne are not only friends, but library advocates! They joined us to discuss ideas professional and personal that can help our practice in school libraries. Erin is presenting at the Mass Reading Conference (⁠https://www.massreading.org/-conference⁠), being held just prior to the MSLA conference and also judged in the MSLA bookmark contest. We discuss genre, AI, educating the next generation of writers and the library’s role in these ideas.

Discussed stuff:

Montserrat College of Art, Prof. Erin Dionne, ⁠https://www.montserrat.edu/staff/erin-dionne/⁠ 

Kate Messner, Trouble with Heroes

Renee Watson’s All the Blues in the Sky

The Civil War of Amos Abernathy Michael Leali

Special Teams by Fred Bowen

History Smashers, Kate Messner

Loree Griffin Burns, ⁠https://loreeburns.com/⁠ 

Nancy Costaldo, ⁠https://nancycastaldo.com/⁠ 

Melissa Stewart, ⁠https://melissa-stewart.com/⁠ 

Brian Lies, ⁠https://www.brianlies.com/⁠ 

Christine Soontornvat, All 13 ⁠https://soontornvat.com/⁠

Christine Soontornvat, Wish in the Dark

Christine Soontornvat, Last Mapmaker

Erin Dionne, Shiver by the Sea, ⁠https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/VE6/shiver-by-the-sea/⁠

Stephen King

The House with a Clock in Its Walls, John Bellairs

Fainth Erin Hicks, Universal Monsters: The Mummy ⁠https://www.skybound.com/universal-monsters-the-mummy/comics/issue-1⁠ 

Brian “Smitty” Smith, Meet Ballpoint! ⁠https://conskipper.com/transformers-worst-bot-ever-meet-ballpoint-creators-brian-smitty-smith-and-marz-jr-the-conskipper-interview/⁠ 

Hunger Games

David Kelly, Ballpark Mysteries, ⁠https://davidakellybooks.com/books/series/ballpark-mysteries/⁠ 

Jarrett Lerner, ⁠https://jarrettlerner.com/⁠ 

Anthropic AI Class Action Lawsuit, ⁠https://www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/⁠  

If Looks Could Kill, Julie Berry ⁠https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/If-Looks-Could-Kill/Julie-Berry/9781534470811⁠

Eli Brown, Oddity, ⁠https://www.eli-brown.com/⁠ 

Eli Brown, Mooncussers

Justina Ireland, Dread Nation, ⁠https://www.harpercollins.com/products/dread-nation-justina-ireland?variant=40827474313250⁠ 

Warrior Girl Unearthed, Angeline Boulley, https://angelineboulley.com/ 

Shrinking, ⁠https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15677150/⁠ 

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, ⁠https://www.netflix.com/title/81758849?fromWatch=true⁠ Derry Girls, ⁠https://www.channel4.com/programmes/derry-girls⁠

LISTEN UP YOU MEDALING KIDS! Wendy MacArthur, Hopkinton Middle School librarian, served on the AASL Odyssey Award Committee and Laura Gardner, Dartmouth Middle School librarian, served on the Alex Award Committee. ‘What was that like?’ we ask, and, what does it take to do it yourself? Reach us at podcast@maschooliraries.org

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By focusing on asks for "little things that bring you joy," to bring volunteers en masse and generate involvement, Barabra Johnson talks about AASL Presidential Candidacy on this episode. We discuss her "say yes" attitude, her journey to becoming the Instructional Technology Coordinator for Colchester Public Schools, and  CTs response to artificial intelligence. 

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Heather Thore on the campaign trail: join us for a discussion of action research into PBIS, passion for ed tech efficacy, leadership development at the South Carolina Association of School Librarians, and the transparency she hopes to bring to the AASL. 

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Former library director, school librarian, and current Director of Outreach for the MSLA, Deborah Froggatt, visits with ideas for advocacy, big and small! Lots of details are below, but Debbie's work reaches into areas beyond the school walls to bring to light and improve the work we do.

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Westborough Elementary School Librarian Teacher Laura D’Elia joins us for a feast of topics for the holidays. In the conversation: introverts at library conferences, a report from AASL featuring strategies to network and not go mad with a huge schedule; a screening of The Librarians, special education in the library, digital literacy, and AASL standards to plan around. Also, DESE’s new Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP) Rubrics and the stigmas associated with elementary libraries. For dessert: romantasy. Thanks for listening.

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School Librarian Susan Harari, most recently of Boston Latin School, and Librarian Stephanie Tournas from the Robbins Library in Arlington, are the co-editors of the Youth Services Book Review blog. This volunteer labor-of-love is supported by 30 librarian writers, just under a third of which are school librarians, and serves as everything from a community-grown promotional resource, a form of professional development, a networking tool, and whatever you make it! Want to get involved? They’re always looking for new writers! 

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