On
January 7th at the Library of Congress a new National Ambassafor for Young People’s Literature was inaugurated. The new ambassador chosen is Gene Luen Yang, who currently is the writer of DC Comic’s Superman Series and has written acclaimed graphic novels such as Boxers and Saints and American Born Chinese.
The ambassador program was established in 2008, by the Children’s Book Council, Every Child a Reader, and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, to highlight the importance of young people’s literature in developing a literate, tolerant, informed citizenry. Yang will serve a two-year term, traveling the nation to champion diversity in all forms—and formats—with his platform, “Reading Without Walls.”
Yang is the first-ever graphic novelist to be selected as ambassador.