Joanna Ho

Thank you for having us on the show!

If you were ever wondering what we're up against, this is a website book banners created to train people to get books banned in their own communities.

I found my kids' school in here, and the books this website suggests I get banned from their library.

www.takebacktheclassroom.com/school-detai...

Caroline Pritchard, Mychal Threets, and Joanna Ho smile together for a photo

Caroline Pritchard, Joanna Ho & Dan Santat created the book THE DAY THE STORIES DISAPPEARED. It emphasizes no one is invisible in stories. Books make all our voices worthy ✨

YOUR voice deserves to be told.

You belong in books, belong in Libraries, belong in the world… you belong everywhere 💚

@mychal3ts.bsky.social and @maggietokudahall.bsky.social so generously shared their book and library wisdom on a panel about book banning with @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social and I to launch our book just days before this visit cancellation.

Grateful for our bookish community!

Censored in California

Authors @joannahowrites.bsky.social and @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social have issued a statement in response to the book banning and censorship situation that took place at Country Club Elementary School in San Ramon, California.

Please take a moment to read their words.

Thank you to the community who has rallied around to support!

The debate around what is or isn’t “cancel culture” really just obscures a simple truth that it’s BAD to be massively racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic and it’s GOOD to speak out against injustice. Some things are good and some things are bad and it’s okay to say which you think are which.

Joanna Ho and Caroline Kusin Pritchard Talk with Roger Arnold’s “all-time favorite thing to do” is read. Right on! His favorite thing to read about is airplanes. Right on again! But why don’t his classmates understand that their favorite thing to read abo...

#TalkswithRoger: @joannahowrites.bsky.social + @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social talk w/ Roger Sutton abt THE DAY THE BKS DISAPPEARED (Disney Hyperion) "JH: We landed on the idea of a kid w/ the power to
'disappear' bks, but we had convos abt how this maps to bk banning" www.hbook.com/story/joanna...

Cover of the picture book, BECOMING BOBA by Joanna Ho and Amber Ren. Picture of a cartoon-like boba tea character smiling and waving while standing on a bridge, behind it are two big buildings that appear to be apartments in an urban area.

Fun #picturebook packed with puns and kid-friendly humor --but also explores what it's like to feel like you don't fit in, the immigrant experience, and how traditions can change over time. Adorable boba characters, too! Well done, @joannahowrites.bsky.social and Amber Ren! #kidlit

Thank you!!!

This fantastic book is helping me shape our opening lessons for 4th and 5th grade about reading habits. The humor will get their attention. Can't wait to read this with students! @joannahowrites.bsky.social @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social @dansantat.bsky.social

#KidLit
#TLSky
#Skybrarians

Thank you!!

What a great 🌟 review! @slj.com says THE DAY THE BOOKS DISAPPEARED by @joannahowrites.bsky.social and @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social, illustrated by @dansantat.bsky.social is "Destined to become a cherished read-aloud in classrooms everywhere."

www.schoollibraryjournal.com/review/the-d...

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

A radical Christian just murdered the speaker of a state house but the real worry is the theocratic muslim who said the bus should be cheaper

Instead of just buying banned books, sign up to speak at your local school board or city council meeting. Join the friends of the library or get on the library board. Run for your school board or county commission. We can’t capitalism our way out of this.

The result will be chaos for this Nation’s public schools. Requiring schools to provide advance notice and the chance to opt out of every lesson plan or story time that might implicate a parent’s religious beliefs will impose impossible administrative burdens on schools. The harm will not be borne by educators alone: Children will suffer too. Classroom disruptions and absences may well inflict long-lasting harm on students’ learning and development. Worse yet, the majority closes its eyes to the inevitable chilling effects of its ruling. Many school districts, and particularly the most resource strapped, cannot afford to engage in costly litigation over opt-out rights or to divert resources to tracking and managing student absences. 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. Because I cannot countenance the Court’s contortion of our precedent and the untold harms that will follow, I dissent.

Sotomayor, in dissent, correctly says that today's decision in Mahmoud will lead public schools to simply censor books featuring LGBTQ characters and themes, creating "chaos" and stigmatizing children with LGBTQ families. This decision will lead to book bans.
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

PEN America Applauds Vital Victory for Community Members and Educators in Lawsuits Over Book Bans in Minnesota, Calls it a Model for Engagement Against Censorship - PEN America In a vital victory for the freedom to read, two lawsuits were settled this week regarding book bans in St. Francis (Minnesota) Area Schools. PEN America applauds the settlements along with students, p...

These students - and these parents - and their librarians and educators - SO proud of how hard they've worked for the Freedom to Read. And what a win this is. cc @authorsabb.bsky.social @flfreedomread.bsky.social @sbintegrityproject.bsky.social @txfreedomread.bsky.social pen.org/press-releas...

Whaaat???

Supporting local library associations is an easy way to help protect the right to read. (And a quick way to check off your activism for the day, if that's how you do it) Reply with a link to donate to yours & we'll repost.

We interviewed @lilmisshotmess.bsky.social on our podcast last year. Check out the episode in Kidlit Happy Hour podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/k...

✊🏻💅🏻✊🏻💅🏻

Thank you for sharing!

Are you in South Carolina! Here's the contact info for the Board of Education who recently decided to deny your kids access to 10 books regardless of what you think. Make sure to contact your state reps to! www.ed.sc.gov/contact/

Book-Loving Texan's Guide to the May 2025 School Board Elections The Book-Loving Texan’s Guide to the May 2025 School Board Elections (This is a mobilization tool. Use it to volunteer, donate, and organize in your community.) Election Day: Saturday, May 3 Early Vo...

Texas! @frankstrong.bsky.social put together this incredible guide to defending the right to read in your upcoming elections! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Screaming Red Alarm in the Texas Capitol This one's about public libraries. Here's what to do.

Texas! Bill HB3225 is still currently in committee which means there is still time to fight it. Have you written to your local paper? Put up a sign in your yard? Hung up flyers in your town? Talked to your librarians? franklinstrong.substack.com/p/screaming-...

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is once again being threatened with removal this time from the Jordan District Library in Utah. You can add public comment here docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Maybe my favorite post + comments ever