Kyle Lukoff – författare

In these hilarious stories by some of the top authors of middle grade fiction today, each young character is coping with a minor superpower—while also discovering their power to change themselves and their community, find their voice, and celebrate what makes them unique.Everyone knows that superheroes are supposed to have awesome powers like strength or invisibility or flight. But what happens when you’re a mostly regular kid . . . who’s just a little bit super?In these hilarious and thought-provoking stories from today’s top middle grade authors, a group of kids are each coping with a recently discovered minor superpower. One can shape-shift—but only part of her body, and only on Mondays. Another can always tell when an avocado is perfectly ripe. One can even hear the thoughts of animals in the pet store—which can be about as heart-tugging as you might imagine. It’s hard enough to be in middle school even without some weird ability, but these kids not only find their way to owning their unique powers and potential, they use them to change things for the better . . . and getting there with them is half the fun!These playful tales prompt readers to consider what their own superpower might be, and how they can use it."Award-winning contributors keep delightfully inclusive and accomplished company in this emotionally grounded, compassionate collection. . . . These are not your run-of-the-mill, cape-and-tights-clad superheroes. These are kids with relatable struggles learning to embrace that quirky bit of themselves that makes them unique." —ALA Booklist (starred review)Written by Pablo Cartaya, Nikki Grimes, Leah Henderson, Jarrett Krosoczka, Remy Lai, Kyle Lukoff, Meg Medina, Daniel Nayeri, Linda Sue Park, Mitali Perkins, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Gary D. Schmidt, Brian Young, and Ibi Zoboi; coedited by Leah Henderson and Gary D. Schmidt.

A National Book Award Finalist "A gentle, glowing wonder, full of love and understanding." –The New York Times Book ReviewIt's the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug's best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare.For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn't particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl.Besides, there's something more important to worry about: A ghost is haunting Bug's eerie old house in rural Vermont...and maybe haunting Bug in particular. As Bug begins to untangle the mystery of who this ghost is and what they're trying to say, an altogether different truth comes to light--Bug is transgender.

Meet the kids in Mrs. Z's wacky and wonderful third grade class! Sebastian Metzger is overjoyed when he checks out a brand-new book on octopodes from the school library, but everything goes awry when the book gets ruined.Sebastian Metzger loves learning new things, especially about animals. He's actually been experiencing many new things recently: third grade marks his first year living as a boy. Some things don't change, though. His imaginary friend, Jimothy the chipmunk, is always by his side!When Sebastian spots a new book in the school library on octopodes, he just knows he has to check it out. The only problem is: this book is so new, the librarian hasn't even prepared it to be checked out! Sebastian promises to take great care of it, and the librarian makes an exception.But when his little sister accidentally ruins the book, Sebastian is devastated. Will Sebastian find a way to save the library book and redeem himself?Both sweetly poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, with black-and-white illustrations by Pura Belpré Honor artist Kat Fajardo, Sebastian's story invites readers into Mrs. Z's class where friendship and fun rule the school, from award-winning author Kyle Lukoff.Perfect for!★ My Weirdtastic School fans★ Reluctant readers★ Classroom read-alouds★ Andrew Clements fans★ Animal/Octopus enthusiasts★ Book loversRead them all! The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class have plenty of stories to share!Emma McKenna, Full Out (#1)Rohan Murthy Has a Plan (#2)Poppy Song Bakes a Way (#3)The Legend of Memo Castillo (#4) Wyatt Hill Brings a Lizard to School (#5) Ayana Ndoum Takes the Stage (#6) Olive Little Gets Crafty (#7)Synclaire Fields Knows the Score (#8)Theo Chang is Not a Cat (#9)-available for preorder now!Thunder Nelson Does the Impossumble (#10)-available for preorder now!Sebastian Metzger Solves a Sticky Situation (#11)-available for preorder now!Fia Hosein Finds Her Beat (#12)-available for preorder now!The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class is an innovative series where every book is written by a different all-star author and features a different kid in the same third-grade class. They can be read in any order!

Jack wants to apologise for hurting Zoe's feelings. He just can't seem to find the right words. Turns out there's more to an apology than just saying 'I'm sorry.'Elevated by equally charming illustrations and text, I'm Sorry You Got Mad is a journey in learning the importance of an apology that goes deeper than just words.

When you see someone sad, it's only natural to want to cheer them up. But how? Some people like hugs but others don't. Sometimes a joke is more comforting than a card. How can you do the just-right-thing if you don't know what it is? With its spare, poignant text and unexpectedly levitous illustrations, Just What to Do offers an important lesson about how to offer comfort to loved ones by setting aside your assumptions and following their lead.

Covid lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he barely leaves his bedroom, let alone the house. But the low point of A’s life isn’t online school, missing his bar mitzvah, or the fact that his parents monitor his phone like hawks - it’s the weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings his parents all but drag him to. At SOSAD, A and his friends Sal and Yarrow sit by while their parents deadname them and wring their hands over a nonexistent “transgender craze.” After all, sitting in suffocating silence has to be better than getting sent away for “advanced treatment,” never to be heard from again. When Yarrow vanishes after a particularly confrontational meeting, A discovers that SOSAD doesn’t just feel soul-sucking…it’s run by an actual demon who feeds off the pain and misery of kids like him. And it’s not just SOSAD - the entire world is beset by demons dining on what seems like an endless buffet of pain and bigotry.But how is one trans kid who hasn’t even chosen a name supposed to save his friend, let alone the world? And is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?

Covid lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he barely leaves his bedroom, let alone the house. But the low point of A’s life isn’t online school, missing his bar mitzvah, or the fact that his parents monitor his phone like hawks - it’s the weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings his parents all but drag him to. At SOSAD, A and his friends Sal and Yarrow sit by while their parents deadname them and wring their hands over a non-existent “transgender craze.” After all, sitting in suffocating silence has to be better than getting sent away for “advanced treatment,” never to be heard from again. When Yarrow vanishes after a particularly confrontational meeting, A discovers that SOSAD doesn’t just feel soul sucking…it’s run by an actual demon who feeds off the pain and misery of kids like him. And it’s not just SOSAD - the entire world is beset by demons dining on what seems like an endless buffet of pain and bigotry.But how is one trans kid who hasn’t even chosen a name supposed to save his friend, let alone the world? And is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?

From award-winning author Kyle Lukoff comes an emotionally charged and unexpectedly funny not-quite-love story, set against the backdrop of college orientation.For Thomas, attending Erickson University is bigger than trading in small-town Vermont for life in Manhattan. It’s a chance for reinvention, to ditch the “nice trans boy” persona he’s been stuck with since middle school, and finally just be a normal-ish guy.  Blending in has never been Annabelle’s style, but ever since her most recent (and completely disastrous) breakup, she’s been counting down the days until she can escape to college across the country. Nobody in New York City knows anything about her or her exes, so it’s the ideal opportunity to become a new and improved Annabelle.When Thomas and Annabelle meet, sparks fly. Neither one can believe they’ve found someone so perfect before classes even start. But when Thomas finds out that Annabelle hasn't been completely honest about her dating history, he begins to question whether she’s more interested in dating him, or dating someone like him. And try as she might, Annabelle can’t seem to stop her history from repeating itself.  In his first young adult novel, award-winning author Kyle Lukoff revisits his beloved protagonists from the Newbery Honor book Too Bright to See and Different Kinds of Fruit, with a whirlwind romance as messy and meaningful as New York City itself.

“A charming tribute to the quirkiness of collective nouns … puns and wordplay abound.” — Foreword, starred review A sloth of bears, a smack of jellyfish, a nuisance of cats — these are some of the surprising and idiosyncratic names we have for groups of animals. Inspired by the evocative possibilities of collective nouns, also called “terms of venery,” author Kyle Lukoff and illustrator Natalie Nelson have created a picture book full of clever wordplay and delightful illustrations. Each spread features a nugget of a story using a particular term, which is accompanied by a collage illustration that serves as the visual punch line.But where did these unusual names come from? Many of them can be traced back to a book on hunting, hawking and heraldry, printed in 1486 — the Book of St. Albans, which has been reproduced many times since.A Storytelling of Ravens provides a unique opportunity to explore and rejoice in the oddities of the English language.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

From Newbery Honor and Stonewall Book Award–winning author Kyle Lukoff and celebrated picture book illustrator Levi Hastings comes an “approachable, engaging” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) picture book about how people found community in a time when they had to keep their true selves secret.“Are you a friend of Dorothy?” In a time when the LGBTQ+ community was forced to hide in the shadows, a woman named Dorothy helped her people find each other in the dark and celebrate themselves in the light. But who was Dorothy? Was she from the neighborhood, someone’s wife, mother, or sister? Was she that clever writer, who threw parties where there were no rules about who you could and couldn’t dance with? Or was she a girl from Kansas, who dreamed of leaving her black-and-white, small-town life and finding a vibrant, colorful world that loved her? Dorothy might have been all these things—because Dorothy, as known by the post-WWII queer community, wasn’t real. Still, she helped a community find connection and care amidst adversity.

A funny story, full of wordplay, brings poetry alive as never before!Kilmer Watts makes his living teaching piano lessons, but when automatic pianos arrive in town, he realizes he’s out of a job. He spots a “Help Wanted” sign at the poem factory and decides to investigate — he’s always been curious about how poems are made.The foreman explains that machines and assembly lines are used for poetry these days. So Kilmer learns how to operate the “meter meter” and empty the “cliché bins.” He assembles a poem by picking out a rhyme scheme, sprinkling in some similes and adding alliteration.But one day the machines malfunction, and there is a dramatic explosion at the poem factory. How will poetry ever survive?Kyle Lukoff’s funny story, rich in wordplay, is complemented by Mark Hoffmann’s lively, quirky art. The backmatter includes definitions of poetic feet, types of poems (with illustrated examples) and a glossary of other terms. An author’s note explains the inspiration for the story.Key Text Featuresdefinitionsglossaryauthor's noteCorrelates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.