The Guardian view on 25 years of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses: a love story that changed an industry | Editorial

Publishing has failed to deliver on its promises after Black Lives Matter. True diversity requires a lasting shift A World Book Day question: which children’s author is name-checked in Stormzy’s song Superheroes (and appears in the video for Mel Made Me Do It ) and Tinie Tempah’s Written in the Stars? The answer, as a generation of readers will know, is former children’s laureate Malorie Blackman. Her groundbreaking novel, Noughts & Crosses, turns 25 this year. Set in a dystopian Britain (Albion), in which racial hierarchies are reversed, this story of star-crossed lovers was one of the…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/06/the-guardian-view-on-25-years-of-malorie-blackmans-noughts-crosses-a-love-story-that-changed-an-industry

#Publishing #Teenbooks #Childrenandteenagers #Books #MalorieBlackman

Judy Taylor obituary

Doyenne of children’s publishing who promoted Beatrix Potter and nurtured Maurice Sendak’s talent The writer and publisher Judy Taylor, who has died aged 93, had a long and distinguished career in the field of children’s books. Her second career as an expert on Beatrix Potter developed only after her retirement…
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/07/judy-taylor-obituary

#Childrenandteenagers #Books #Culture #MauriceSendak #BeatrixPotter