On today’s show I am joined by Sam Bortle, a champion of libraries who has been working in this space for a decade! Sam is very passionate about boosting representation in children’s books. For this reason we do a deep dive on Parachutes by Kelly Yang. If you’re a fan of Gossip Girl and/or Speak… this is the book for you!!
Books & Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Parachutes by Kelly Yang
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Check out We Need Diverse Books: a non-profit and a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. Their IG is @weneeddiversebooks
- CCBC Diversity Statistic Report
Our Guest:

Sam Bortle
Instagram: @samisbooked