Teri Lesesne

Teri S. Lesesne was a children’s and young adult literature scholar, educator, and author whose career focused on connecting young people with books and fostering joyful reading experiences. She taught middle school for about fifteen years before becoming a professor of library science at Sam Houston State University in Texas, where she was later named a Distinguished Professor of Library Science and was widely known as “Professor Nana.” Lesesne was deeply involved in the young adult literature community, serving as Executive Director of ALAN (the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE) and as a judge for the National Book Award, and she received the ALAN Award in 2007 and the Texas Library Association Outstanding Library Services Award in 2020 for her contributions to adolescent literature and library services.

As an author, Lesesne wrote influential professional books for teachers and librarians, including Making the Match: The Right Book for the Right Reader at the Right Time, Grades 4–12 (Stenhouse, 2003), Naked Reading: Uncovering What Tweens Need to Become Lifelong Readers (Stenhouse, 2006), and Reading Ladders: Leading Students from Where They Are to Where We’d Like Them to Be (Heinemann, 2010).[