Blogs About Reading

Reading Without Walls

Gene Luen Yang

Gene Luen Yang began drawing comic books in the fifth grade. In 2006, his graphic novel, American Born Chinese — a memoir about growing up as an Asian American — became the first graphic novel to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award. He is the author of the Secret Coders series and has written for the hit comics Avatar: The Last Airbender and Superman. In 2016, Yang was named the 5th National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and selected as a MacArthur Fellow. Visit Gene Yang's official website.

The National Ambassador for Young People's Literature raises awareness of the importance of young people's literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education, and the development and betterment of the lives of young people. The initiative is sponsored by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the Children’s Book Council, and Every Child a Reader.

 

November 7, 2017

At An Unlikely Story bookstore in Plainville, MA, Gene sits down for a lively conversation with Wimpy Kid author (and bookstore owner) Jeff Kinney.

November 7, 2017

At the 2017 Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle, Gene meets up with Ngozi Ukazu, creator of the popular web comic, Check Please! — the quirky story of a pie-baking college hockey player.

June 16, 2017

It's Lucky Episode 13 of the Reading Without Walls video blog! Gene meets up with Mike Lawrence, creator of the new graphic novel, Star Scouts, where the heroine Avani earns badges in jetpack racing, teleportation, and lasers! Mike talks about his early years as a reader, how he became a writer, and what he's reading now with his kids.

March 21, 2017

Gene sits down with award-winning YA author Jason Reynolds. They talk about the unusual story structure in All American Boys, the inspiration for the book, and how writing it emerged from a deep friendship (full of “uncomfortable, healthy conversations”) with his co-author, Brendan Kiely.

February 9, 2017

American-born Chinese Gene Yang sits down with Chinese-born American Katherine Paterson to talk about the books that most influenced them as readers and writers. Paterson — the child of Christian missionaries — spent her early years in Huai'an and Shanghai.

December 12, 2016

Gene sat down with the new Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Dr. Hayden talks with Gene about her life in libraries, starting from when she was a young girl. She shares some of the surprises she's discovering at the Library of Congress. Did you know that the Library has more than 162 million (yep, million) items in its collection?

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"Wear the old coat and buy the new book." — Austin Phelps