Book Riot - November 6, 2025

📚 Books win big

Election night brings great news for books and libraries ...

THE HEADLINE

Books and libraries for the (election night) win

When people show up to the polls, they support their libraries. This week’s elections brought a lot of great news nationwide for libraries, as numerous institutions passed levy measures to ensure their continued survival.

These levy passages were especially crucial in states like Ohio, which changed how the state funds their libraries earlier this year. Facing potential closures, libraries in places like Greene County, Jefferson County, Newcomerstown Library District, Tuscarawas County Library District, and Massillon Public Library all saw their residents vote in favor of paying a little more money for continued access. Ohio wasn’t alone. Michigan saw several pro-library measures pass, including in Milan and Fillmore Township, as did Oregon and Washington state.

Another big winner this week? Pro-public education candidates running for school boards, especially those running in districts that have been among those most eager to ban books and censor curriculum.

Progressive candidates swept the ballot in Pine-Richland School District (PA), took several seats in Gardner Edgerton Schools (KS), and all of the open seats at Cy-Fair Independent School District (TX), knocking the wind out of the ongoing efforts to suppress facts and information that have plagued these districts for years. Indeed, Texas’s school board elections saw great results nearly across the board. While the state may continue to push for censorious legislation , communities are responding loudly by voting in favor of candidates who care more about their schools providing a robust education than removing books by or about LGBTQ+ people and/or people of color.

Local elections matter. These are the decisions that directly impact our everyday lives. Numerous states will have elections in March 2026, and some of the most consequential midterm elections will happen next November. It is never too early to begin preparing to be a pro-library, pro-education voter in anticipation of what’s to come–and it’s absolutely worth celebrating the wins this week, many of which were a direct result of better advocacy and mobilization around down ballot and local elections.

Check this handy guide, and consider where and how you may be able to develop your own tools for helping people navigate school board or library board elections.

Indigenous YA books to make you think

It’s always a good time to read Indigenous authors.

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, we’re delighted to share some recommendations from Chickasaw author G.M. DiDesidero, whose debut YA fantasy novel Undrowned is out now.

Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell : Mara, new to the Blackfeet reservation, steps into a traditional Giveaway ceremony to honor a missing girl, only to become a murder suspect. Last to see Samantha alive, Mara and teens Loren, Brody, and Eli become persons of interest in the investigation, and each has their own complicated history with Samantha. Cobell layers Blackfeet culture into each character’s point of view. This is a thriller with teeth and unexpected twists, but it’s also an important call to action. In her debut, K. A. Cobell weaves a heartbreaking mystery around the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis.
Rez Ball by Byron Graves : After losing his brother Jaxon in a car accident, Ojibwe teen Tre Brun throws himself into basketball as a way to cope with grief and honor his brother’s legacy. If he wants a spot in the NBA, he’ll have to lead the Red Lake Warriors to their first state championship. Balancing stereotypes, underage drinking, school, and the weight of expectations on Minnesota’s Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation, Tre struggles to find footing on and off the court. Partially framed as a documentary, Byron Graves’s Rez Ball delivers a gritty, authentic sports drama and coming-of-age story that will have readers cheering every hard-won victory.
The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs: The Unfinished is part campfire tale, part thriller. When high-school athlete Avery drinks from a black pond deep in the forest, she unwittingly unleashes an ancient evil—a gelatinous black water monster. Avery has heard stories of Unfinished beings but never believed them. Now, it even haunts her tea, taking eerie shapes. When her crush, Key, disappears, Avery is forced to reconnect with her Mohawk heritage and the elders she’s ignored in search of answers. This debut is a chilling ghost story dripping with Mohawk lore that YA horror readers will devour.

See the rest of DiDesidero’s recs.