Getting Kids Hooked on Nonfiction

AFTER COMPLETING THIS COURSE, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO:

• Identify what makes nonfiction genuinely engaging for young readers, from a practitioner and author's perspective.
• Weave nonfiction into programming using practical, tested strategies.
• Apply nonfiction-focused approaches to collection development, ensuring the right titles reach the right readers.

Candace Fleming, Award-Winning Author

Candace Fleming awarded herself the Newbery Medal in fifth grade after scraping the gold sticker off the class copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond and pasting it onto her first novel — a ten-page, ten-chapter mystery called Who Done It? She’s been collecting awards (her own, not Elizabeth George Speare’s) ever since.

Today, Candace Fleming is the author of more than fifty books for children and young adults, including the 2021 Sibert Medal-winning Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, as well as the 2021 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award-winning The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh. A recipient of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, she is also the two-time winner of both the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and the Sibert Honor. Her most recent titles are The Enigma Girls and Narwhal, Unicorn of the Arctic.

Amanda Chacon, Librarian and Course Operations Manager, Library Journal/School Library Journal

Amanda Chacon is a NISE STEM-certified Future Ready Librarian and a LEGO Education Teacher Ambassador, Canva Teacher Ambassador, and Amazon Future Engineer Teacher Ambassador Mentor. She was selected as the School Library Journal 2024 Librarian of the Year, Sam Houston State Distinguished Educator of the Year, and a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker. Amanda also teaches graduate LIS students at two ALA-accredited universities. Amanda believes the library is a place where all students are welcome to explore their interests and creativity. Her professional interests include the intersection of STEAM and literacy, as well as community engagement and initiatives, particularly in Title I schools. She has been in education for 22 years and a librarian for 16 years.

WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE

This course is designed for anyone who works with children and teens.

SESSIONS AND PRICING

Course materials unlock on the session deadline date.

GROUP OPTIONS

Training a team? Choose the setup that matches how you want to plan and pay :

Bulk course credits: Prepay once, get the highest per-seat discount on every course, and assign seats later.

Unlimited annual licensing: System-wide access for a year with no per-course approvals.

Request Discounted Group Pricing

Questions? Email groupsales@libraryjournal.com.

COURSE FORMAT

This will be a 1-hour online course and will include:

Live sessions: Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field. All sessions are recorded for on-demand access for six months after the course ends.

Facilitated discussions: Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.

Online classroom: The virtual learning platform holds all course content and remains accessible for six months after the course ends.

EXPECTED TIME COMMITMENT

If you attend or watch recordings of all live sessions, you will spend approximately 1 hour on this course. You will earn 1 hour of professional development credit and a School Library Journal certificate of completion.

ALL THE DETAILS

Young people can love nonfiction, but sometimes it just needs the right introduction. Join us for a candid, hour-long conversation between 2024 School Library Journal Librarian of the Year, Amanda Chacon, and award-winning author Candace Fleming about what makes nonfiction click for young readers. Together, they'll dig into practical, tested strategies for weaving nonfiction into programming, collection development, and everyday interactions with students. Walk away with real ideas you can put into practice right away, straight from a practitioner and an author who've seen what actually works.

ON-DEMAND ACCESS

All live guest speaker sessions are recorded and available on demand for six months following the initial broadcast as part of your purchase.

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

Complete all course requirements to earn 1 professional development credit hour and a School Library Journal certificate of completion. Certificates are emailed upon completion.

ACCESSIBILITY

All video recordings feature auto-captioning. If you require accommodations, please email course-support@libraryjournal.com upon registration and we will make our best efforts to support your needs.

SUPPORT

For technical or course-related support, please contact course-support@libraryjournal.com.