Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Now the pressure was always on because we always relied on other funding too. But also because my colleagues and I all need our salaries paid, and our cultural programs have a huge impact on people they serve, including in correctional facilities. 000
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 05/03/2026This book banning bill is absolutely horrific: www.ala.org/news/2026/02.... Please contact your legislators and speak out against this massive blow to children's literature. #MgLit #KidLit #ChildrensFictionala.orgALA denounces federal book banning billThe American Library Association denounced H.R. 7661, a federal bill targeting LGBTQ+ stories that would modify the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to restrict "sexually oriented" mater... 093
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 12/02/2026It was so much fun to write, such a wonderful respite from a challenging world. 010
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 12/02/2026Thank you, my friend! I can't wait to share more about it! 010
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 12/02/2026Thank you, my friend! It's so thrilling for me to finally have another book coming out! 010
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 11/02/2026Thank you so much! I hope kids enjoy reading the dragon-sport scenes as much as I enjoyed writing them! 010
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 11/02/2026Thank you! I can hardly believe that this story will (relatively) soon be a book! 010
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 11/02/2026I've had to keep this secret for a bit, but here's something I've been working on! This story was a blast to write. I can't wait for you all to meet the characters (including, of course, plenty of dragons!). #MGLit #KidLit 7235
Reposted by Diane MagrasDr Jo Kershaw @mthrjo.bsky.social · 10/10/2025Ok, did not expect “The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe” to feel quite so relevant to this moment. Here’s Edmund, deciding to side with the leader who he’s been told disappears people. 13405122
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 02/10/2025I love seeing this quote because we're in a world where we need to remember this. We all have the potential of being good at what needs to be done to help our world be a better place. I haven't gone back and read this book for a long while, but I'm wondering now if it's even more relevant to today. 130
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 28/09/2025Every once in a while, I get a Google Alert on one of my past books. this time, it was this amazing video by a young fan. To know that my work is still reaching its readers in this way is so fulfilling. (And what a great vid, too!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEk2... #MGLit #MiddleGradeBooksyoutube.comWacky Wednesday Review for Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s DaughterYouTube video by Kristen Grace 071
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 19/08/2025This is definitely a stellar MG to get lost in. The moral questions are fantastic, and the characters vivid and wonderful. I hope you enjoy it! 110
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 19/08/2025I had so much fun reading the ARC of @sarahjmendonca.bsky.social's wonderful debut, and gobbled it up yet again when it came out! So it's out, and here's my review. (And librarians and teachers: This is one that will fly off your shelves!) #MGLit #KidLit www.goodreads.com/review/show/...goodreads.comDiane Magras's review of An Encantadora's Guide to Monstros and Magic (Encantadora, #1)5/5: This is such a delightful book. I was fortunate to read an advance copy, and read it again once it had been published, which felt like a visit to a fascinating friend. It was impossible to put do... 171
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 19/08/2025I have always been a huge fan of those medieval scribes' wonderful imaginations. www.openculture.com/2025/08/why-...openculture.comWhy Knights Fought Snails in Medieval Illuminated ManuscriptsThe snail may leave a trail of slime behind him, but a little slime will do a man no harm... whilst if you dance with dragons, you must expect to burn. - George R. R. Martin, The Mystery Knight As an... 030
Reposted by Diane MagrasJames McConnachie @jamesmcconnachie.bsky.social · 29/05/2025What questions should writers ask? Katherine Rundell nails it in @thetls.bsky.social 011136
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 27/05/2025Happy #BookBirthday to @amybmucha.bsky.social for her absolutely delightful new #mglit GEO'S FORTUNE, about friendship, predictions, truth, and magic in a realistic world of cool natural stones. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/777234...penguinrandomhouse.comGeo's Fortune by Amy B. Mucha: 9781682636718 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: BooksWhat happens when Geo's fortune-telling scheme exposes what seem to be some very real manifesting abilities? Thirteen-year-old Geo Leoni desperately needs to earn some cash this summer, fast. So she ... 020
Reposted by Diane MagrasLisa Stringfellow @engagereaders.bsky.social · 07/05/2025KINGDOM OF DUST is a 2025 Children’s Africana Book Award honoree! I had no idea! I’m thrilled that the committee felt my West African-inspired fantasy honored and respected Nigerian culture. 🙏🏾📚 cfas.howard.edu/outreach/cab... #CABAbooks @harperkids.bsky.social #QuillTreeBooks 252
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025My immediately family has no plans. We'd love to go on a lovely little vacation, but it's not worth the risk. 110
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025So true. It's reached the point where I am seriously afraid of flying. 110
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025And I'm grateful that she continues to be my companion for both my author job and my day job. She's been on my lap for nearly every Zoom presentation or meeting, sometimes showing her face, but often just purring quietly while I do my work and, of course, stroke that very soft and lovely ruff. 010
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025And I think how wonderful it's been for my little boy to grow up with this very sweet cat. He was in 4th grade when we lost our first cat (to FIP), which was heartbreaking. I'm so glad that he's had the chance to enjoy the quiet independent companionship that a wonderful cat will give. 100
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025But I also think about these past ten years and how often we've been in the same room together, three introverts doing our own thing, with Flora sleeping on one lap, then another, then playing with one of us, then climbing "Mount Mommy," as my son called it when he was small. 100
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025I think of that often, how kind her foster owner was, but also how that foster owner had been tempted to keep her. I'm glad she let Flora go to us. For one, I suspect she'd have had trouble in a house with that many other cats. For another, she adores fish and can only take a little bit of chicken. 100
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025When we first met her, she was a friendly but wary young mother (somehow, only 7 months old or so) who had been abandoned as a pregnant cat in TN. She was living with a very kind foster owner who had three or four other cats, in a chicken-only house due to one cat's allergies to fish. 100
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025On Wednesday, Flora will have been part of our family, the sole cat in this house, and beloved companion of her three human subjects, for ten years. And as you can see, she has not lost a wisp of her grace and beauty. 250
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025A beautiful summary of David Attenborough's favorite ocean experiences: "Young children playing on a beach today will live through perhaps the most consequential time for the human species in the past 10,000 years. They will grow up to see how this story ends…" www.thetimes.com/life-style/c...thetimes.comDavid Attenborough at 99: ‘I will not see how the story ends’The natural history presenter, who turns 99 this week, has an obsession with sea life that began in boyhood. Here he reflects on his most moving encounters 020
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 06/05/2025So agree. This is one of my favorite novels ever. 010
Reposted by Diane MagrasTom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 04/05/2025‘The Comprehensive Bookshop” - my cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books. 671477307
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 05/05/2025A starred Kirkus review for a fantastic monster-filled #MGlit heist! Check this out, friends, for another amazing book for classrooms, libraries, and kids' hands (Out on July 8, 2025): www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...kirkusreviews.comAN ENCANTADORA'S GUIDE TO MONSTROS AND MAGIC | Kirkus ReviewsA desperate monster hunter gambles on a magical heist. 030
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 29/04/2025That's one of the many things I think about when I hear people wishing that things would return to the way they were a year ago. We need change that goes forward, that supports the world we want to see. 110
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 29/04/2025I just don't understand why our government, when the decent people were in charge, allowed this happen. It's a secret police who can do what they like, and that is against all principles of human decency. 110
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 29/04/2025That is utterly terrifying and heartbreaking. This should have been stopped a long, long time ago. 110
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 29/04/2025You are so welcome! Your book is so amazing. I hope so much that teachers, librarians, parents, and young readers get the chance to hug this close to them, as it is certainly a book to love. 000
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 28/04/2025And #teachers: here is a very cool website that links with the rocks of the book: rockreaders.com. I can see this and the book being fantastic resources for classrooms.rockreaders.comTHE ROCK READERS – Where Science Meets Magic 011
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 28/04/2025I just gobbled up GEO'S FORTUNE, a wonderful new #MGLit coming out in a month: May 27, 2025. It's all about #rocks, #friendships, #magic, and #family. A warm, compelling, beautiful story that was impossible to put down. Here's my review! www.goodreads.com/review/show/...goodreads.comDiane Magras's review of Geo's Fortune5/5: With a stellar opening line that feeds directly into the conflict, this beautiful middle grade debut is an utter gem. (Okay, a pun, but it's true.) The author dips into facts, stories, and more a... 282
Reposted by Diane MagrasCate McQuaid @catemcquaid.bsky.social · 16/04/2025I weeded out the ways the current administration is targeting the arts – massive cuts at IMLS and NEH, threats to the Smithsonian Institution, interference with the Kennedy Center, and more. Plus, resources, actions, and steps to take. Hands off the arts! catemcquaid.substack.com/p/hands-off-...catemcquaid.substack.comHands off the artsA catalog of federal attacks on arts and humanities, and concrete steps to resist 12610
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 16/04/2025If we can't raise or regain funding quickly soon, we'll have to slow or stop our programs. And may start losing our staff. One of the biggest impacts I've seen from our work is the connections people feel through our groups. At a time when it's easy to feel alone, this is so important. 000
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 16/04/2025Humanities Councils offer different programs in different states, depending on the state's needs, but these can include book festivals, speaker series, and more. My org does a lot of facilitated book discussion groups for rural library patrons, Veterans, and high school teachers and students. 110
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 16/04/2025Like many authors, I have a day job. Mine's for a humanities council. On April 4, DOGE attacked our biggest funder, the NEH. Humanities councils nationwide are now without funding. If you care about history and the humanities, please contact your Congress members: www.statehumanities.org/action-alestatehumanities.orgAction Alert: NEH Targeted by DOGE - Federation of State Humanities CouncilsSave Our Humanities Councils: DOGE Cuts to NEH will Damage Cultural Organizations in Every State April 4, 2025 – UPDATE On April 4, the Federation learned—through our contacts and reporting … Read mor... 121
Reposted by Diane MagrasChuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 11/03/2025Also, libro.fm is great for audiobooks. 511732
Reposted by Diane MagrasGints Zilbalodis @gintszilbalodis.bsky.social · 11/03/2025Ok, this is the last one 8966972124
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 11/03/2025My now-18yo son was a huge fan of your first books when they first came out, and it's so cool to think of new young readers getting to feel that burst of eagerness and inspiration from your work! (And thank you for having a heroic neurodiverse MC. The world needs more of those.) 120
Reposted by Diane MagrasKbport714 @kbport714.bsky.social · 11/03/2025Just finished The Bionic Boy @lynnplourde.bsky.social and loved it! What a truly inspiring book about courage, friendship, and finding out “you CAN!” @nancyrosep.bsky.social Out in October 162
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 11/03/2025This sounds so sweet and heartfelt and wonderful, Lynn! Congrats on the upcoming book! 120
Diane Magras @dianemagras.bsky.social · 11/03/2025Check this out, friends! This sounds so, so good! 120
Reposted by Diane MagrasWatchdog Progressive @watchdogprg.bsky.social · 11/03/2025My mom outlived her savings - she was a bookkeeper and very thrifty. Then, Alzheimer's disease took the rest of her savings. Placing her in a home was the only choice for her care. $330 per day. Medicaid paid for that expense. It was a lifesaver. #ProtectMedicaid 326784