Dinner to Honor Amy Sarig King

Amy Sarig King will be honored at a special dinner in her hometown of Lititz, Pennsylvania on Sunday, October 1, 6:00pm at the Blackworth Restaurant.  She will be joined by her friend and editor, David Levithan of Scholastic.  All booksellers are invited to join us.  There is a nominal fee of $25, and NAIBA will cover the rest of the dinner expense.  Only 6 seats remain at this dinner, so register quickly.

Attack of the Black Rectangles (Scholastic) by Amy Sarig King has won the NAIBA Carla Cohen Free Speech Award.

Upon getting the news, King said, “I'm so humbled and honored -- to be connected in any way with Carla Cohen and to receive this important award. This is such a big deal for me, I sat last night and cried a little. Intellectual freedom is vitally important in any functioning democracy and this award will help me continue to teach young people about their rights, their choices, and their futures.”

When King was on a panel at New Voices New Rooms in 2022, she talked about meeting with high school students who had no idea that books are banned, even those of their favorite authors. As she related then, her fan mail from teens reveals a lot. “It reveals that parents who want to ban books also don’t support mental health services and are quieting their own children and their struggles.”

“This is not the time to ban books for children. Books are where they can see themselves, see everyone in their school. When they feel seen it is an unbelievable thing.”