Celebrating (S)KIN being named a National Book Award Finalist this week -- congratulations to @ibizoboi.bsky.social! nationalbook.org/2025-national-book-awards-finalists-announced/
Excited to see (S)KIN by @ibizoboi.bsky.social has been selected for the National Book Award longlist! It's wonderful to see a book I was so honored to work on recognized in this way, especially one meaningful to me personally as a lover of fantasy. I'm thrilled it will find a wider audience!
P.S. If you look closely at the titles mentioned in the posts and ALT Text in the images above, you may find the books that conclude my 10-year anniversary posts below!
A photo of four adults of various genders with various skin tones. From left to right, they are library director Deimosa Webber-Bey, senior editor Weslie Turner, Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander, and former president of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Kirby McCurtis. They stand together in front of a booth that features the Little Brown Books for Young Readers logo (along with many books) with their arms around each other, smiling at the camera.
A photo of the young adult novel (S)KIN, by New York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King Award winning author Ibi Zoboi, opened to the title page, which features black-and-white background art of flames behind the title, author name, and Versify logo. The page has been signed in black Sharpie by the author and addressed to one of the editors of the book. The handwritten text reads, "Thank you, Weslie, for your editorial", then a hand-drawn symbol that looks like three small vertical lines above a filled-in oval shape, then the words "KISS THE SUN" beside the author's signature.
A photo of two Black women holding a picture book. Coretta Scott King Award winning and New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi is on the left, and senior editor Weslie Turner is on the right. They stand together on the floor of a convention center, smiling at the camera, and holding between and in front of them a copy of the picture book they worked on together, FIRST DAY AROUND THE WORLD, written by Ibi Zoboi and illustrated by Juanita Londoño.
A photo of an Afro-Latina woman and a Black woman posing on either side of a standing banner. Author-illustrator Yesenia Moises is on the left, and senior editor Weslie Turner is on the right. They smile at the camera and gesture with their hands towards the banner art of a joyful mermaid, the main character from SOUNDS LIKE JOY, the most recent picture book that they worked on together, and the text above the art reads "Yesenia Moises / author . illustrator . toy designer / www.yeseniamoises.com," then the Instagram logo, then "yeseniadraws".
The whole ALA conference weekend was a great reminder of what a wonderful community we have to tackle the most daunting challenges ahead. Many thanks to everyone who made time for me (and special shoutouts to those currently on Bluesky, @ibizoboi.bsky.social and @yeseniadraws.bsky.social)! #alaac25
A photo of five adults of various genders with various skin tones -- from left to right, they are Mary Claire Cruz, art director; Ashanti Fortson, color designer; Mar Julia, illustrator; Samuel Teer, author; and Weslie Turner, senior editor. They stand together on a stage in front of a red curtain, most with their arms around each other, smiling at the camera. The two in the middle, Mar Julia and Samuel Teer, each hold in one hand in front of them, just below their chest, a wooden plaque with a wooden backplate and a white plate featuring the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) logo above and Michael L. Printz Award seal below centered text.
I was fortunate to be able to join the BROWNSTONE creators to celebrate this year's Printz Award at #alaac25 -- so proud of this creative team, @samuelteer.bsky.social, @marjulia.bsky.social, and @ashantifortson.com; art director, Mary Claire Cruz, and original editor, Erika Turner (in absentia)!
And if you missed the first three books I featured, find them here!
Cover art of STELLA'S STELLAR HAIR. A young girl with brown skin, wearing her hair in a large, broad, mostly unstyled Afro, stands with her arms spread to either side, looking happy. Her hair takes up most of the space in the image, but a cosmic-looking sky with stars, distant planets, and sparkles is visible behind it.
I was thrilled to acquire @yeseniadraws.bsky.social's STELLA'S STELLAR HAIR! It was love at first sight with this magical interplanetary adventure I would have loved as a kid. A 1st for us both: Yesenia's author-illustrator debut and my 1st picture book acquisition! yeseniamoises.com/published-works
Cover art by Jeez Vanilla of VAMPIRES NEVER GET OLD: TALES WITH FRESH BITE. An illustration of a humanoid skull with the two canine teeth on the top of the mouth elongated, tips reddened by blood, appears to grin at the viewer against a red gradient background. The words in the title curve above it, styled so the "V" and "S" in the word "vampires" sharpen into fang-like points at the bottom, and below the skull, the names of the contributors are set: Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, Kayla Whaley, Zoraida Córdova & Natalie C. Parker.
I took VAMPIRES NEVER GET OLD to my 1st acquisitions meeting as an associate editor! Thanks to immortal anthologists @zlikeinzorro.bsky.social + @nataliecparker.bsky.social + our creature-of-the-night contributors for the fun of my 1st acquisition I was able to edit. bookshop.org/book/9781250802774
NIGHTMARE-VERSE ALT TEXT: The front covers of the three Nightmare-Verse books by L.L. McKinney are arranged in a row. On the white cover of A BLADE SO BLACK, a young Black woman, looking wary but ready to fight, stands with one dagger in each hand in front of a silhouetted photo of red and white roses in the shape of a playing card spade. On the red cover of A DREAM SO DARK, the same woman, looking serious yet proud, crouches, propping herself up with the long sword she holds, in front of a silhouetted photo of a dark forest in the shape of a heart. On the black cover of A CROWN SO CURSED, the same woman, looking serious yet proud, stands, holding a sickle in one hand and the attached chain in the other, in front of a silhouette photo of a throne-like chair in the shape of a playing card club. The silhouette on each cover is marred by a splatter of liquid in a different direction, as if each has been slashed by a weapon and bleeds onto the diamond pattern in the background.
A DREAM SO DARK is the 1st book I edited solo, a turning point after years assisting! Thanks to Rhoda Belleza acquiring it, I got to start editing kindred spirit @llmckinney.bsky.social. Alice in Wonderland meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the 2nd Nightmare-Verse adventure! llmckinney.com/books
Continuing to mark my ten-year anniversary in children's publishing! (I joined the industry ten years from last October, but this March marks ten years working full time.) From ten great books that marked milestones in my journey, here are this week's -- stay tuned through the end of the month! 🧵
Cover art by Richie Pope for TAKE THE MIC: FICTIONAL STORIES OF EVERYDAY RESISTANCE. A young person with brown skin, eyes closed, screams into a microphone that's consumed by fire, the force of the breath and sound blowing the flames away from their face. The names of the contributors to the anthology float in the air across from the screaming face.
You never forget your 1st acquisition! When I got @bethanycmorrow.com's sample story for TAKE THE MIC, it spoke to the teen I used to be, desperate to be seen. May it reach many more! Thanks to @bethphelan.bsky.social, who sold it to me, and Kait Feldmann, who edited. bookshop.org/book/9781338343700
Cover of DACTYL HILL SQUAD. Four children of various genders with brown skin (one holding a sword), looking variously excited, determined, and surprised, ride on pterodactyls flying towards the viewer along a city street. An older man with white skin and a raised fist rides a Tyrannosaurus Rex around the street corner in the background, chasing the other characters.
Cover of DACTYL HILL SQUAD: FREEDOM FIRE. Three children and two adults of various genders with brown skin, looking variously excited and determined, ride on a large saddle on the back of a pterosaur flying over a battlefield. Pterodactyls fly through the moonlit night sky in the background, while dinosaurs, people, and people on dinosaurs fight on the ground.
We start with a twofer, the 1st books I edited: Dinosaurs in Civil-War-era NYC!
DACTYL HILL SQUAD and DACTYL HILL SQUAD: FREEDOM FIRE are historical fantasy adventures by NYT bestseller @djolder.bsky.social with art by @nilahmagruder.com, co-edited with Nick Thomas. bookshop.org/book/9781338268829
Ten years ago, I joined the children's publishing industry! My anniversary was October, but this March marks ten years that I've been working full time in editorial. To celebrate, I'll be posting about ten great books that marked milestones in my journey -- stay tuned through the end of the month! 🧵
Each year, at the #ALAYMA (the Oscars of kidlit), the Printz Award is given for the best YA. Today, for the first time in my career, a book I worked on won! BROWNSTONE is the 2025 Printz winner, and I'm proud to share this honor with all the hands that made this graphic novel. #booksky
In the center of this image, there is an oval photo of the head and torso of a smiling Black woman with grey (almost white), short, natural hair and dressed in black against a black background. Her arms are crossed casually in front of her, as if she is leaning on a surface, and her sleeves end just below her elbow, leaving her forearms and parts of her hands and ringed fingers are visible. There is a white text box with rounded corners below the photo with the words "Nikki Giovanni" on the first line and the words "June 7, 1943 - December 9, 2024" on the second line in a smaller font. Behind the photo is full-bleed artwork of a bright, multi-colored bookshelf stretching from a yellow floor to the ceiling with a young Black girl on the right of the image. The young Black girl has natural hair in afro puffs tied with yellow ribbons on either side of her head. She is wearing a sleeveless blue dress that ends at her knees, white socks, and black shoes with a strap across her ankle. She is standing on a stack of five books of various colors on her left foot, and her left hand is reaching up to point at a book on the top shelf.
I was fortunate to work with Nikki Giovanni on her picture book, A LIBRARY, to meet the poet whose words reached me as a child, and to put her work in front of young readers discovering her legacy for the first time. Rest in Power, Nikki. This world is richer for your life and poorer for your loss.
Vampires Never Get Old is an INDIE BESTSELLER! Congratulations to @zlikeinzorro, @nataliecparker, all of the contributors, the teams at @ImprintReads and @FierceReads, and every indie bookseller who made this possible. I'm so happy!
Announcement: Next week, I'm starting a new job as Senior Editor at the Versify imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt!
I acquired a graphic novel -- and it's a visual history of role-playing games! Having fun working on SIDE QUEST with @oheysteenz and @SamuelSattin.
ICYMI, @zlikeinzorro and @nataliecparker revealed the cover of their anthology Vampires Never Get Old, coming to a bookshelf near you on September 22nd!
The news is out! I'm SO excited about these books. (And I'm very glad @ElleOnWords can finally talk about this deal!)
A Halloween announcement: My first Imprint/Macmillan acquisition is VAMPIRES NEVER GET OLD, a diverse YA vampire anthology edited by @zlikeinzorro and @nataliecparker!
I can finally share the news: before I left Scholastic, I acquired my first book! Look out for Take The Mic, edited by kindred soul @BCMorrow. So grateful to @beth_phelan and @louisefury for making this happen. And thank you, @kaitfeldmann, for adopting this project of my heart!
