On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that parents of children in public schools who object to LGBTQ+ picture books may opt out of lessons or instruction involving those books. The case was brought by three sets of parents against the Montgomery County (Md.) Board of Education, objecting on religious grounds to books that are LGBTQ+ inclusive and had been approved as supplemental curriculum for the schools' language arts program. The ruling was roundly denounced by members of the book world.

The American Booksellers Association issued this response: "American Booksellers for Free Expression is deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in Mahmoud v. Taylor, singling out LGBTQIA2S+ books for special scrutiny to provide parents with 'opt-outs' of their inclusive messaging. The plaintiffs in the case allege that the First Amendment rights of certain parents were violated because the 'normative' messages in the books--that LGBTQIA2S+ identities, marriages, and communities exist and should be respected--violated the religious upbringing of the students. In its defense, Montgomery County Public Schools argued that such opt-outs would be burdensome, counter to its policies of inclusion, and would adversely affect LGBTQIA2S+ students in the district. We agree.

"An 'opt-out' does not just impact the students whose parents choose to exercise it. As Justice Sotomayor notes in her dissent, 'many school districts, and particularly the most resource strapped, cannot afford to engage in costly litigation over opt-out rights... Schools may instead censor their curricula, stripping material that risks generating religious objections. The Court's ruling, in effect, thus hands a subset of parents the right to veto curricular choices long left to locally elected school boards.' This decision subjects LGBTQIA2S+-inclusive books to a special scrutiny based on their ideas, stigmatizing LGBTQIA2S+ children and families while letting the religious views of some parents dictate curriculum for all students.

"Today's ruling impacts educators, parents, and students, but it does not determine what booksellers can do. Indie bookstores can continue to offer third spaces where tolerance and pluralism are uplifted if they so choose. But that does not erase the stigma that will attach to inclusive books as a result of this ruling, and it does not undo the shame some children will experience when their peers have to leave the room because of characters in whom they see themselves reflected. We stand with teachers, parents, students, and educators as they navigate the uncertain waters in the wake of this ruling."

In addition, ABFE listed the books objected to in the suit "to help any who feel a desire to support the authors in some way in their store":

Pride Puppy! by Robin Stevenson, illus. by Julie McLaughlin (Orca)
Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen, illus. by Lucia Soto (little bee books)
IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All by Carolyn Choi, LaToya Council, and Chelsea Johnson, illus. by Ashley Seil Smith (Dottir Press)
My Rainbow by DeShanna Neal and Trinity Neal, illus. by Art Twink (Kokila)
Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, illus. by Stevie Lewis (little bee books)
Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illus. by Charlene Chua (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers)
Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson, illus. by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (Crown Books for Young Readers)
Jacob's Room to Choose by Sarah Hoffman and Ian Hoffman, illus. by Chris Case (Magination Press)
What Are Your Words?: A Book About Pronouns by Katherine Locke, illus. by Anne Passchier (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Penguin Random House, which filed an amicus curiae brief in the case with the Educational Book and Media Association and the Authors Guild, called the ruling "a devastating setback for public education and the right to read. As Justice Sotomayor powerfully wrote in dissent, the decision 'guts our free exercise precedent and strikes at the core premise of public schools.' Allowing individuals to opt-out of reading certain materials erases marginalized voices and forces teachers to manage restrictions that lead to silent censorship. Reading a book does not require agreement--only openness to engaging with different experiences. Penguin Random House stands with the teachers, librarians, and students now facing even greater barriers to building classrooms that reflect the world around them."

Elly Brinkley, staff attorney for U.S. free expression programs at PEN America, said: "This ruling is a deeply disappointing blow to the right to read under the First Amendment. It is a fundamental betrayal of public schools' duty to prepare students to live in a diverse and pluralistic society. By allowing parents to pull their children out of classrooms when they object to particular content, the justices are laying the foundation for a new frontier in the assault on books of all kinds in schools. In practice, opt outs for religious objections will chill what is taught in schools and usher in a more narrow orthodoxy as fear of offending any ideology or sensibility takes hold. Opt outs required under the broad ruling of the court are unworkable and will potentially lead schools to sweep out all kinds of books to avoid the challenge altogether. LGBTQ+-themed books have already been the main casualties among the 16,000 books banned since 2021. This will exacerbate that devastating trend.

"The Court's conservative majority failed to even consider the fundamental free speech principles also at issue here, instead handing down a ruling that could have a broad chilling effect and open the door to censorship and discrimination. This risks significant harm for millions of children who may no longer see themselves or their families reflected in stories read in classrooms, while others will be denied the chance to build understanding and empathy for those different from themselves. The decision will allow any parents to object to any subject, with the potential to sow chaos in schools, and impact students, parents, educators, authors, and publishers. With rising polarization, xenophobia, and the targeting of vulnerable populations, we need schools that open students' minds, not betray education by closing them off from the real world."

The American Library Association has named Daniel J. Montgomery to be its next executive director, effective November 10. He will replace interim executive director Leslie Burger.

Daniel J. Montgomery

Montgomery was elected to a three-year term as president of the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers in 2010 and has been unanimously reelected every three years since then. He is also IFT's COO, responsible for managing and executing policy and programs on behalf of 400 local affiliates and members. He has a master's degree in education from the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree from University of Michigan.

ALA president Cindy Hohl said that Montgomery's "strong background in public service and public education is a great fit for our goals. We had three excellent finalists, and I want to thank all of them. Dan is exactly the leader we need in these times."

Montgomery said, "As someone who believes strongly in public education, I am eager to bring my passion for service and leadership to the American Library Association. Education and libraries are a part of the same fabric, and they are foundational to a healthy democracy. And they need defending now more than ever."

The Gainesville, Fla., Alachua County Regional Airport now features a book vending machine highlighting Florida authors, courtesy of the Lynx bookstore. The Gainesville Sun reported that the machine was "unveiled by the Lynx bookstore co-founders Lauren Groff and Clay Kallman, a married couple who view the vending machine as a passion project. The hope is that the vending machine will provide book readers and frequent flyers another way to enjoy their flight experience."

The bookstore shared an Instagram video chronicling the arrival at its new destination and noting that the vending machine "features Florida authors including Zora Neale Hurston, Carl Hiaasen, and Karen Russell. Huge thanks to @oldfloridavibes [Hunter Turner] for the amazing art on the machine!"

Speaking at the June 26 airport authority meeting, Kallman thanked the board for its support, the Sun noted. He also said that bestselling author Groff had planned for the vending machine as long, if not longer, than the bookstore: "She flies in and out of this airport four or five times a month and has felt the need for some way of providing Florida literature to the half a million visitors that you'll have here, coming and going." 

Artist Turner commented: "I'm honored to welcome visitors and locals to Gainesville with artwork inspired by the incredible work the folks at the Lynx are doing to preserve and protect the written word for all." 

Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward recalled the moment when he and a dozen other mayors were walking around downtown and entered the Lynx bookstore. "He then asked a rhetorical question to the airport authority: In what other U.S. cities can people stumble upon iconic writers in a nearby business?" the Sun noted.

"We just happened to walk into Jack Davis, the Pulitzer-Prize winner who lives in the Duck Pond neighborhood, and happened to talk with Lauren, a National Book Award finalist," Ward said. "That doesn't happen in most cities! The opportunity to highlight the success of that small business who is fostering that kind of thing on South Main Street and here in the airport where you can't miss it, where it helps feeds people's intellect and travel experience, it's a big step forward."

Barnes & Noble will open a new bookstore at 9840 Brook Rd., Glen Allen, Va., on Wednesday, July 2. A relocation of the former Creeks at Virginia Centre bookstore that closed on June 23, 2024, the new space is next door to the previous storefront. Opening festivities will feature author Maggie Stiefvater cutting the ribbon and signing copies of her books. 

"We are very pleased to return to the Creeks at Virginia Centre, nearly a year to the day since vacating our former location," B&N said. "For decades Barnes & Noble has been a staple in this community, and our Glen Allen booksellers look forward to welcoming customers into their beautiful new bookstore."

Also on July 2, B&N will launch a new store in York Town Center at 2935 Concord Rd., York, Pa., on Wednesday, July 2. Author Lucy Score is cutting the ribbon and signing copies of her books. The bookstore will feature an updated B&N Café.

"We are very pleased to be opening a beautiful, brand-new Barnes & Noble in York Town Center," B&N said. 

Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary "who became one of television's most honored journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to illuminate a world of ideas," died June 26, the Associated Press reported. He was 91. In addition to his role with President Lyndon Johnson, Moyers's career ranged from young Baptist minister to deputy director of the Peace Corps to senior news analyst for the CBS Evening News and chief correspondent for CBS Reports.

Bill Moyers (photo: Gage Skidmore)

"But it was for public television that Moyers produced some of TV's most cerebral and provocative series," the AP noted. "In hundreds of hours of PBS programs, he proved at home with subjects ranging from government corruption to modern dance, from drug addiction to media consolidation, from religion to environmental abuse."

Moyers's life and career as a broadcast journalist have been widely acclaimed since his death. He was also an author, with several books to his credit, including Listening to America: A Traveler Rediscovers His Country (1971); The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis: With Excerpts from an Essay on Watergate (1988, co-authored with Henry Steele Commager); A World of Ideas: Conversations With Thoughtful Men and Women About American Life Today and the Ideas Shaping Our Future (1989); The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets (1995); Genesis: A Living Conversation (1996); Fooling with Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft (1999); Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times (2004); Moyers on Democracy (2008); and Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues (2011). 

"In an age of broadcast blowhards, the soft-spoken Mr. Moyers applied his earnest, deferential style to interviews with poets, philosophers and educators, often on the subject of values and ideas," the New York Times wrote. "His 1988 PBS series, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, drew 30 million viewers, posthumously turned Mr. Campbell--at the time a little-known mythologist--into a public broadcasting star, and popularized the Campbell dictum 'Follow your bliss.' " 

A companion book, The Power of Myth (1988), based on his interviews with Campbell and championed by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis--who was then an editor at Doubleday--became a bestseller, as did earlier books by Campbell.

Tributes were paid to Moyers on social media by other writers, including historian Simon Schama: "Bill Moyers, eminence of public affairs broadcasting, dies at 91.... I am so sorry to hear this; a prince of the news, straight as an arrow. I was lucky to be on his PBS programs now and again and we always had serious discussions unafraid of complexity and nuance. None like him."

New York Times columnist and author Nicholas Kristof posted: "Bill Moyers, brilliant journalist, commentator and press secretary to President Johnson, is dead at 91. My favorite Moyers story: LBJ asked him to say grace at a White House dinner, then interrupted: 'Bill, don't mumble!' Moyers: 'I wasn't speaking to you, Mr. President.' "

Author Lawrence Wright noted: "Bill Moyers was a guiding light for me. He gave me my first blurb, on a book about growing up in Dallas during the Kennedy assassination. I was a nobody and he was a somebody with a very generous heart."

The Library of Congress paid its respects with a recollection of Moyers's appearance at the Coolidge Auditorium in the fall of 2023 to mark the preservation of more than 1,000 of his public television programs in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, noting: "His relationship with the Library went back to the summer of 1954, he told the packed auditorium, when he was a 19-year-old from a little town in Texas, in D.C. for a summer internship with U.S. Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson. On his first day, Johnson's top aide took him to the Library's Congressional Research Service as the place to do his background work for Johnson's policies and work on Capitol Hill.

" 'I came over and I was shown what they do, it's incredible,' Moyers told the crowd, 69 years later. 'All summer, I was much smarter than anyone knew I was because it was coming from the Congressional Research [Service].... I've been a fan of the research office and the process here and the Library all my life.' "

Author/illustrator Mike Curato visited Books on the Square in Providence, R.I., for a conversation with art educator Cat Huang about his adult graphic novel, Gaysians (Algonquin). Shown here: (l.-r.) Cat Huang, Mike Curato, and bookseller Thomas Grebenchick.

On the second Saturday of each month this summer, Madison, a four-year-old Golden Retriever and certified therapy dog with Pet Partners, will be at Falling Rock Cafe & Bookstore in Munising, Mich. The "Reading with Madison" event offers children a chance to read to the dog and enjoy a free ice cream cone afterward.

The bookstore noted that Madison "has been visiting the GetAway Drop in Center, MediLodge and continuing the Reading Program at William G. Mather, which was established in 2013. Her handler, Keena Jones, has been active in the Munising community with her Great Danes: Bella, Zoey and now Madison volunteering with Pet Partners and HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response." Jones has been coming to the Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore since 2013 with her dogs.

"It's a beautiful June day to enjoy a refreshing, air-conditioned visit to your neighborhood bookshop in bloom," Hills & Hamlets Bookshop, Chattahoochee Hills, Ga., posted on Facebook.

In the Random House Publishing Group publicity team:

Michelle Jasmine has been promoted to director of publicity, Dial Press.

Greg Kubie has been promoted to director of publicity, paperbacks & in-market.

Carrie Neill has been promoted to director of publicity, strategic partnerships, working on titles at Random House, Dial Press, and Hogarth and the RHPG division.

Marni Folkman has been promoted to publicist, in-market.

Ivy & Bearlock Holmes: The Case of the Missing Flower by Kristyna Litten (Magic Cat Publishing).

Today:
Here & Now: Emily Itami, author of Kakigori Summer: A Novel (Mariner, $30, 9780063432161).

Fresh Air: Jeffrey Seller, author of Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781668064184).

The View repeat: Brian Kelly, author of How to Win at Travel (Avid Reader Press, $30, 9781668068656).

Sherri Shepherd Show repeat: Law Roach, author of How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence from the World's Only Image Architect (Abrams Image, $28, 9781419768217).

Tomorrow:
Drew Barrymore Show repeat: Avan Jogia, author of Autopsy (of an Ex-Teen Heartthrob) (Gallery Books, $27.99, 9781668062272).

Jimmy Kimmel Live repeat: Glennon Doyle, co-author of We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life's 20 Questions (The Dial Press, $34, 9780593977644).

MGM Television is developing a series adaptation of Park Avenue, the first adult novel by bestselling YA author Renée Ahdieh. Johanna Lee (Dune, Scandal) is writing and executive producing the project, which will be produced by Escape Artists, Deadline reported. The book was published earlier this month by Flatiron Books.

"When I first read Renée's incredible book, I was immediately hooked," said Escape Artists co-founder by Todd Black. "Then I heard Johanna's vision and was convinced this was going to be something truly special. Together with Lindsay Sloane and our partners at MGM Television, we're excited to build a series that feels bold, fresh, and timely for today's audiences."

"Working with the venerated team at Escape Artists and MGM on this project has been an absolute highlight of my career," Ahdieh said. "If someone had told me that my book about Korean American immigrants would resonate with so many people from all walks of life, I would not have believed it. I am beyond thankful for the passion and excellence this team and Johanna Lee brings to this project, and I can't wait to share it with everyone."

Winners have been selected for the 2025 Firecracker Awards, sponsored by the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses and honoring the best independently published books of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry and the best literary magazines in the categories of debut and general excellence. Each book winner receives $2,000--$1,000 each for the press and author. The book winners:

Fiction: Obligations to the Wounded by Mubanga Kalimamukwento (University of Pittsburgh Press). Judges wrote: "Seldom does fiction so expertly capture the complications of queerness, family, dislocation, and culture. Obligations to the Wounded is a triumphant collection of unforgettable tales whose characters are as varied in identity as they are in experienced circumstances. With wit and cunning, the protagonists navigate the ever-present systems of oppression that encircle them and their relationships. Mubanga Kalimamukwento has written a stunning work of compassionate art worthy of our attention and emotions."

Creative Nonfiction: Low: Notes on Art & Trash by Jaydra Johnson (Fonograf Editions). "Jaydra Johnson's Low is formally inventive, bringing together art criticism and memoir, words and art into a meticulously crafted essay collection. In stunningly lyrical prose, Johnson pays a finely hewn attention to that which our wasteful, capitalistic society discards and collapses the dichotomies of high and low art. Johnson writes with a tenderness towards her subjects, but not without sacrificing a direct, unflinching approach to her insights on class and waste. This book, as the interstitial pieces remind us, give us new rituals for looking, exposing the casually oppressive structures of our society and imbuing trash with a newfound sense of purpose. Fonograf Editions has produced a gorgeous book to match with gorgeously formatted pages, and collaged interstitials that underscore the meaning and message of Johnson’s playful, powerful work."

Poetry: Mirror Nation by Don Mee Choi (Wave Books). "Don Mee Choi's Mirror Nation is a virtuosic work exploring memory, loss, and grief inside the system of capitalist nation-states. Choi rearranges and expands language(s), numbers, signs, still and archival images in a project so singular that it expands the definition of poetry itself as it charts a poignant journey of meaning-making in the aftermath of empires' repeated cycles of violence. Mirror Nation offers the best of what poetry can provide--a new way of seeing. Once you have read it, it will live in you and with you for the foreseeable future. Arriving at a crossroads in the American colonial project, this collection is both testament and testimony to the corrosive forces of empire."

Playwright, poet, author, and activist James Baldwin holds an unrivaled position in the history of American literature, one that biographer Nicholas Boggs thoroughly examines in Baldwin: A Love Story. As the title suggests, Boggs's work distinguishes itself from prior biographies by using Baldwin's primary romantic, platonic, artistic, and intellectual relationships as the organizing principle. Depictions of relationships with his lover, artist Lucien Happersberger, and enduring friends like Beauford Delaney breathe life into every page of the work.

Boggs uses new archival material and fresh interviews with people close to Baldwin throughout his life, resulting in an impressive and kaleidoscopic exploration of Baldwin's origins, his intellectual and artistic evolution, and the ever-expanding ripples of his influence across tumultuous artistic and political landscapes.

At more than 600 pages, Baldwin provides a deep intimacy into his life, delving into his formative years in Harlem. Boggs depicts his family's poverty, the fraught relationship with his stepfather, and the intellectual awakening encouraged by teachers and mentors who recognized his promise.

Boggs meticulously charts Baldwin's early literary efforts, the formation of his unmistakable voice and how he would "transmute his psychological and emotional wounds into writing." Baldwin's words developed enough force to cut through the noise of the fraught American racial discourse of the 1950s and '60s with unparalleled clarity and moral authority.

Boggs shows Baldwin's impact, not only as a novelist and essayist of breathtaking power but also as a crucial voice in the Civil Rights movement. In one anecdote, Baldwin meets with Robert Kennedy in a legendarily tense confrontation packed with celebrity and influential Black voices of the time, including Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne. The biography navigates Baldwin's complex interactions with political leaders and fellow activists, showcasing his unwavering commitment to justice while also revealing the personal toll of such a public life. For example, the FBI tracked the movements of him and his friends, "amassing what would balloon into a significant 1,884-page file on him that would not be closed until 1974."

Baldwin sensitively explores Baldwin's sexuality and lifelong quest for a long-term partner. Far from a footnote, his identity as a gay Black man is shown to be foundational in his understanding of otherness, of love in all its incarnations, and of societal constructs that label and diminish people.

Nicholas Boggs has undertaken a biography of immense scope and profound insight that deepens our understanding of Baldwin and his work. For longtime admirers and new discoverers alike, this is an indispensable companion to the ever-relevant legacy of James Baldwin. --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.

Shelf Talker: An unrivaled homage to James Baldwin, a complex creative figure who changed American literature and thoughts about race in the 20th-century and beyond.