Kara LaReau
@karalareau.bsky.social
1.3K followers 2.1K following 220 posts
#kidlit writer, rara avis, survivor of dysfunction and malady • WITCHYCAKES chapter book series available NOW wherever books are sold! 🌙🧁🐚💙• repped by Ammi-Joan Paquette • she/her https://linktr.ee/karalareau
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karalareau.bsky.social
Greetings to those who just followed me — especially those from the #kidlit sphere!
Book covers of books by Kara LaReau: Rise of ZomBert, The Jolly Regina, The Infamous Ratsos, Extra Ezra, Baby Clown, Mr. Prickles, Ugly Fish, and Good Night Little Monsters
Reposted by Kara LaReau
thetransfemininereview.com
"You make the best of it all and hope you can help make it a little better for the gurl after you."

- Miss Major, 2023 💔
One of the things I hear with some younger trans people I know is they feel, "I'm gonna get this surgery, and I'm gonna learn that way of speaking, and I'm gonna be done." You're never done. If you're a straight, cisgender person, you're never done. Things are always happening that have the potential to change you. So all I am today is not who I'm gonna be tomorrow, because of the things that happened to me today and later tonight. People forget that. "Oh, after I transition, I'm gonna be through." Well, good luck with that. 'Cause if you're through, then it's time to leave, you know, and I don't wanna go anywhere yet.
I'm in my seventies. Why didn't I stop? Number one is community. My gurls. I've had moments of thinking about stopping, but I didn't. I made sure I would step back, reju- venate myself, and then got back out there, and that's how you make a way. Our stories are not all the same, but the destination is: to get some place where we have some peace and harmony, and we can be at ease with ourselves and the people around us. You make the best of it all and hope you can help make it a little better for the gurl after you.
karalareau.bsky.social
I've posted this before, but it bears repeating (as often is it takes):

As a child (i.e. before the MMR vaccine was available), my mother had the mumps. She permanently lost hearing in one ear.

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
Hundreds of U.S. students quarantined amid measles outbreaks
At least 270 unvaccinated kids are staying home from school as measles continues to spread nationwide. "Expect more," one expert said.
www.nbcnews.com
Reposted by Kara LaReau
mobydickatsea.bsky.social
admire the magnanimity of the sea which will permit no records
karalareau.bsky.social
Ugh. And yet Woody Allen still breathes. 💔
Diane Keaton as Kay Corleone in The Godfather
karalareau.bsky.social
What's the maximum number of errands you're able to do in a day? I'm physically/mentally done after five.
Reposted by Kara LaReau
warren.senate.gov
After Trump got his Covid shot, he chose to fire the scientists protecting the rest of us from diseases.
Reposted by Kara LaReau
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
Reposted by Kara LaReau
sovereignbeast.bsky.social
It's pretty wild to me that investigators have uncovered that anti-trans campaigns are largely funded by the fossil fuel industry, and that the presumed motivations are pretty directly to redirect the public conversation away from climate change... and that this isn't bigger news.
karalareau.bsky.social
<Morrissey voice>

girlfriend of antifa
I know, I know
it's serious...
rtodkelly.bsky.social
"the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa"
karalareau.bsky.social
blipstress.bsky.social
An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.
Reposted by Kara LaReau
adapalmer.bsky.social
I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections
Reposted by Kara LaReau
dieworkwear.bsky.social
this is the jacket's breast pocket lining pulled up to make it look like a pocket square
Stephen Miller in a gray suit, white shirt, and gray tie. A close-up of his breast pocket.
Reposted by Kara LaReau
bschillace.brandyschillace.com
The ‘crazy cat lady’ label is applied to older women who feed and care for many cats (her own, other people’s, strays). But this is the correct evolution of wise women who realize, after a life of patriarchy and expectations of sacrifice, that animals are more grateful and more frequently give back.
Reposted by Kara LaReau
ebonyteach.blacksky.app
During recent attacks against diverse books in libraries and schools, very few experts on children's books were consulted.

It's the same with AI and writing: scholars of composition and rhetoric have spent decades thinking about these matters!

How about consulting high school English teachers?
Reposted by Kara LaReau
dieworkwear.bsky.social
"no more superficial individual expression"
Pete Hegseth in "fun socks" Pete Hegseth wearing USA flag pocket square, USA lining, contrast stitching, and "America First" embroidery. Pete Hegseth wearing a USA belt buckle. monogrammed shirt cuff, contrast buttonhole, contrast buttons, and USA flag lining. Pete Hegseth in tailored clothing. They are full of cheap "personalization" options common in low-end made-to-measure tailoring.
Reposted by Kara LaReau
acyn.bsky.social
AOC: I think there's two things that are happening at once: One, there absolutely is an unprecedented abuse of power, destruction of norms, erosion of our government and our democracy in order to prop up an authoritarian style of governance

However, they are weaker than they look…
Reposted by Kara LaReau
esqueer.net
Here's Michael Knowles a month ago once again calling for the "eradication of transgenderism" and here is a man who threatened to shoot up a gay bar because he wanted to "eradicate transgenderism." This was retweeted by prominent conservatives such as Chris Rufo.

This is stochastic terrorism.
karalareau.bsky.social
MAGIC is happening this fall — hope to see you at one of these events!🌙🧁🐚💙

#kidlit #booksky #parents #teachers #librarians
An announcement about three upcoming WITCHYCAKES book events: Saturday, 10/18 11am – 4pm New England Witches Guild Fall Festival at Crescent Park, Riverside, RI; Sunday, 10/19 1pm – 3pm Warren Walkabout at Inkfish Books, Warren, RI (with author Jamie Michalak!); and Sunday, 10/26 11am – 12pm Halloween Costume Party at Barrington Books, Barrington, RI (with author/illustrator Jannie Ho!)
Reposted by Kara LaReau
davejorgenson.bsky.social
“But they’re all criminals for coming here illegally.”

Being undocumented in the United States is a civil infraction. If someone is undocumented, without having committed any other crimes, they’re not a criminal.

Here's important facts to combat ICE talking points:
lni.media/p/how-to-tal...
How to talk to your neighbor about ICE
Uncover the conversation around ICE, federal workers, and social media commentary with Dave Jorgenson's provocative take on controversial recruitment tactics and viral content.
lni.media
Reposted by Kara LaReau
schooley.bsky.social
A new Knives Out where the universally loathed “Secretary of War” gathers every high ranking officer in one room and they’re all suspects in his mysterious demise would be fun.
karalareau.bsky.social
Thank you! 🐈‍⬛
karalareau.bsky.social
Cat’s out of the bag! It’s my first stand-alone novel, and I’m so thrilled to bring it out into the world with Scholastic AND the brilliant Kelly Murphy! 🙀

#kidlit #booksky #parents #teachers #librarians
A Publishers Weekly announcement for the publication of Licorice, a middle grade novel written by me and illustrated by Kelly Murphy, to be published by Scholastic in Fall 2026.
Reposted by Kara LaReau
carriefinison.bsky.social
If you're an author, you're probably fretting over your next bookstore event. Will anyone show up? Will anyone buy the book? Will the floor helpfully open up and swallow you whole so you don't have to face a sea of empty chairs?

But even if no one shows up to your event, it will be OK because 🧵