By Barbara Dee
for Cynthia Leitich Smith‘s Cynsations
About a year ago, on a NerdCamp panel called “Tough Topics in Middle Grade Fiction,” we were talking about how middle grade was evolving, growing up, tackling subjects that used to be considered taboo—for example, sexuality, terrorism, refugeeism, and drug use.
I asked the educators in the room which underrepresented topics they’d like to see on their bookshelves.