An exciting update! Mass Freedom To Read has been working overtime to get amendments filed that substantially strengthen this bill, and all the amendments have been filed! It's time to contact your MA senators to urge them to support the amendment: www.massfreedomtoread.org/news/cta-sup...

Malinda Lo@malindalo.bsky.social · 9mo ago

The MA Senate will be voting on An Act Regarding Free Expression on Thursday 11/13. This Boston Globe article touts this as a positive development, but while the protections for libraries are welcome, this version of the bill strips all protections from authors. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/08/m...

I used to think that getting involved with legislative work would inspire me and give me a sense of community. I have a sense of community now: with authors. Because we understand that nobody else gives a shit about us. That inspiration though is hard to find. I'm mostly feeling anger these days.

While the bill allows parents, students, and guardians to challenge book removals in state court, it does not allow creators and authors to do so. In its current form, the bill leaves authors unprotected from being discriminated against due to their identity.

Malinda Lo@malindalo.bsky.social · 9mo ago

The MA Senate will be voting on An Act Regarding Free Expression on Thursday 11/13. This Boston Globe article touts this as a positive development, but while the protections for libraries are welcome, this version of the bill strips all protections from authors. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/08/m...

The MA Senate will be voting on An Act Regarding Free Expression on Thursday 11/13. This Boston Globe article touts this as a positive development, but while the protections for libraries are welcome, this version of the bill strips all protections from authors. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/08/m...

Republicans have made it easier for book bans across the country. Massachusetts Democrats are looking to curb them here. - The Boston Globe

The Massachusetts Senate will vote Thursday on legislation that would create a set of rules and restrictions for school districts to follow when adding or removing school library materials.

bostonglobe.com

Enjoying the good news this morning! Take the wins when you get them

Also a surprise upset in St Paul, Minnesota as Kaohly Her, who came to the United States at age 4, becomes the city’s first Hmong (and first Asian) mayor. www.startribune.com/st-paul-mayo...

Kaohly Her wins historic election, will be St. Paul’s first Hmong mayor

Her, who entered the race in August, defeated her former boss Mayor Melvin Carter in his bid for a third term.

startribune.com

I'll go ahead and say it. Texas book banners got their butts kicked in tonight's school board elections. Again.

Me, with a lady knight book from 2019: I would also like to be at this party.

Malinda Lo@malindalo.bsky.social · 9mo ago

This is the PW article, in which they also report that “First, it was fairies, courtesy of Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses,” to which I have to object: This is Holly Black erasure!! Also I wrote about fairies a long long time ago (2009). www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

According to Publishers Weekly, “lady knights are having a moment,” so let me share with you my lady knight story, “One True Love,” first published in 2012 and available to read for free at Lightspeed: www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/one-...

One True Love - Lightspeed Magazine

It is never lucky for a child to kill her mother in the course of her own birth. Perhaps for this reason, the soothsayer who attended the naming ceremony for Princess Essylt was not a celebrated one. ...

lightspeedmagazine.com

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"

Enshrining the right to read in the state would be a start. So, too, would overturning this particular law in the state. What we need are people getting this vicious and cruel laws overturned. We do NOT need people sending copies of the book to these kids.

Boston Tom Levenson@tomlevenson.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I wonder what the best way would be to make these books available to every Utah school kid—and to let them know that they can access them.

Thanks to The Tufts Daily for covering #MassFreedomToRead and An Act Regarding Free Expression! www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2025... @massaabb.bsky.social @authorsabb.bsky.social @danaalisonlevy.bsky.social

Battling book bans in Beantown and beyond - The Tufts Daily

I consider myself to be generally aware of the state of book banning in the United States. I read about the fights going on in school districts and libraries throughout Florida, Tennessee and Texas. I...

tuftsdaily.com

I realized yesterday one reason I am so angry at "AI" is because the companies behind it stole my words to make the monster they worship. I don't want my words to be part of this, but they gave me no choice. May the monster they created eat them and destroy them. 🧙🏻‍♀️

This news is so intriguing! The prize will be focused on books published for children ages 8-12. It will be judged initially by 3 adults who come up with a shortlist, then 3 children will join the judging. Huge financial award to author, plus 30K copies of the honored books will be given to kids.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 10mo ago

Booker prize launches £50,000 children’s award

This article (top link) is excellent. 👏👏👏

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ@olivia.science · 10mo ago

I am close to tears; they listened and made an english version apache.be/2025/10/24/b... @apache.be you rule 🖤

I realized yesterday one reason I am so angry at "AI" is because the companies behind it stole my words to make the monster they worship. I don't want my words to be part of this, but they gave me no choice. May the monster they created eat them and destroy them. 🧙🏻‍♀️

Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.

Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory

An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC

bbc.co.uk

If you're at the Boston Book Festival this weekend, make sure to visit us at the Beacon Press Booth 55

Boston Book Festival 2025 — Mass Freedom To Read

Mass Freedom To Read will be at the Boston Book Festival! Come see us at the Beacon Press Booth #55 and write postcards to your legislators urging them to support An Act Regarding Free Expression.

massfreedomtoread.org

A thoughtful essay on Last Night at the Telegraph Club and censorship today. "Telegraph Club’s depiction of the anxiety connected to the threat of arrest, deportation, and erasure is a shockingly, depressingly relevant overarching story in the midst of which Lily is trying to find her own truth"

Katelyn from the Black Lagoon@24thdoctor.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Determined to finish my established chosen set, I closed out this year’s series with @malindalo.bsky.social’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club, to talk about the importance (esp now) of access to diverse stories and how unsettling it is to be writing about a book published in the last 3 years

PSA to all authors affected by the Anthropic settlement: You don't have to file your claim right now. You have until March 2026 to do so. My agent advised that I should wait a little while and let things shake out. You *can* file now but it won't hurt to wait a bit and it might benefit you.

If you need a shot of righteous adrenaline on a Monday, I highly recommend @malindalo.bsky.social's acceptance speech from the Eleanor Roosevelt Banned Book Awards. The whole ceremony is now online, but here's Malinda's speech: www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5aD...

The Eleanor Roosevelt Banned Book Awards 2025 10 11 25

YouTube video by ERVK

youtube.com

Many excellent inflatables in the responses to this post!

Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · 10mo ago

MSNBC Grandmas in Skechers seamlessly reclaiming the frog from 4chan Nazis in about six weeks has gotta be the political upset of the century.

I’m loving the pics of inflatables at the #nokings marches

For authors, email offers a way to connect with readers and professional opportunities. For some, it also becomes a pipeline for harassment. Katherine Locke, a children’s and YA author, has experienced that firsthand. (1/3)

Still interested in answers to this question!

Malinda Lo@malindalo.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I’m often asked whether my books (particularly Last Night at the Telegraph Club) are autobiographical. (I was not alive in the 1950s.) Why is this question so prevalent? Why do readers often believe fiction is autobiographical, or inspired by real life? I’m really curious: If you feel this way, why?

Banned Books Week may be over but the fight for the freedom to read and the first amendment continues. I talked with author/artist Mike Curato (FLAMER) about his experiences as an often-banned creator in Massachusetts and beyond. #massfreedomtoread @massaabb.bsky.social @authorsabb.bsky.social

The Horn Book@thehornbook.bsky.social · 10mo ago

#HBOutoftheBox: In support of "An Act Regarding Free Expression" (S.2328/ H.3594) in MA, author @malindalo.bsky.social asked author/illus @mikecurato.bsky.social #5Qs about #bookban challenges to his #graphicnovel FLAMER: "We all deserve to be seen and understood fully" www.hbook.com/story/five-q...

One weird thing about book bans is that the authors of banned books have been ignored or sidelined in a lot of the discourse and in the anti-censorship activism. So I’m not exactly “glad” to see this article, but I appreciate it a lot. electricliterature.com/book-bans-co...

Book Bans Continue to Threaten the Wellbeing of Authors - Electric Literature

There are societal, financial, legal, and emotional consequences to book challenges, and writers are facing the brunt of these attacks

electricliterature.com

I’m often asked whether my books (particularly Last Night at the Telegraph Club) are autobiographical. (I was not alive in the 1950s.) Why is this question so prevalent? Why do readers often believe fiction is autobiographical, or inspired by real life? I’m really curious: If you feel this way, why?

Library folks -->

kelly jensen@heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Has your library banned Banned Books Week events/displays this year? I want to hear about it. I had thought I'd get 2-3 responses but, y'all, we're at over 20 at this point. All anonymous. It will be used for a story in the near future. Survey closes 10/17. docs.google.com/forms/d/1n65...