Scholastic Reads

In honor of Black History Month, Yolanda Renee King talks with host Suzanne McCabe about her new picture book, We Dream A World: Carrying the Light From My Grandparents Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Yolanda is joined in the studio by her editor, Andrea Davis Pinkney, who is vice president and executive editor of Scholastic Trade Publishing. Yolanda is only 15 years old. Already, she is following in her grandparents’ footsteps as an activist and author. “Leaders are those who ask the questions, who challenge things,” she says. We Dream a World, which is illustrated by Nicole Tadgell, evokes the legacy of Yolanda’s grandparents and exhorts members of her generation to follow their own dreams for “liberty, justice, and food for all.” → Resources We Dream a World: Learn more about 15-year-old activist and author Yolanda Renee King and her “love letter” to her grandparents. Share Black Stories: These works of fiction and nonfiction showcase the many facets of Black life in America. Realize the Dream: Get involved in the movement to rally communities to perform 100 million hours of service by the 100th anniversary of Dr. King’s birth. Meet Andrea Davis Pinkney: The award-winning author and editor has written and edited dozens of books celebrating the Black experience, including Martin Rising: Requiem for a King. → Highlights Yolanda Renee King, author, We Dream a World: Carrying the Light From My Grandparents Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King “Learning about [my grandparents’] perseverance and all that they had to endure, that’s what my parents taught me.” “A lot of people forget that throughout my grandfather’s life, he was one of the most disliked men on Earth and one of the most critiqued.” “[My grandmother] was perceived . . . as Dr. King’s widow, as the wife who didn’t do anything. Without her efforts, there would be no King legacy, and his message and the dream would have been gone with him.” Andrea Davis Pinkney, vice president and executive editor, Scholastic Trade Publishing “No matter your age, your race, where you live, what you believe, the family that you come from, you can make a difference, big or small.” “[Tadgell’s art] presents this canvas of what dreaming a world can be. The colors are vibrant. They’re imaginative. They’re filled with hope.” → Special Thanks Producer: Maxine Osa Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Aaron Blabey: Cat on the Run Kelly Yang Has the Scoop on Top Story

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we spotlight two Scholastic authors who depict everyday acts of heroism in their latest novels about the Holocaust. First, Neal Shusterman talks about Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust, his new graphic novel for young readers. The book is beautifully illustrated by Andrés Vera Martínez. Then, Sharon Cameron discusses Artifice, her latest work of historical fiction for middle graders. “I hope [young readers] take away a sense of hope in the face of despair,” Neal says. “Even in these dark times, there were stories of people who did remarkable things, who put themselves at risk to help save others.” Neal is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 30 award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including the Skinjacker trilogy, the Unwind dystology, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Neal was recently honored by the ALA with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. Sharon is the author of the international bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick, The Light in Hidden Places, and the acclaimed thriller, Bluebird. Her debut novel, The Dark Unwinding, was awarded the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Sue Alexander Award for Most Promising New Work and the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, among other honors. → Resources Storyman: Check out Neal Shusterman’s author bio. The “Accidental” Author: Learn more about Sharon Cameron and her titles for young readers. 24 Books for Teaching the Holocaust: These powerful works of fiction and nonfiction are for students in Grades 1 – 12. When We Flew Away: In an upcoming novel for young readers, author Alice Hoffman reimagines the life of Anne Frank before she began keeping a diary. The Tower of Life: Suzanne McCabe talks with author Chana Stiefel about The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs. The picture book, which is illustrated by Susan Gal, won the 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award and the Margaret Wise Brown Prize for Children’s Literature, among other honors. International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Learn more about the annual commemoration, which takes place on January 27, and read survivors’ accounts collected by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. → Highlights Neal Shusterman, author, Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust “There are a lot of kids who might not pick up a book about the Holocaust. They might not want to delve into such a difficult subject. But here was a way of bringing in readers who might not normally read this kind of story and then get them interested in it and wanting to know what really happened.” “I hope [young readers] take away a sense of hope in the face of despair. Even in these dark times, there were stories of people who did remarkable things, who put themselves at risk to help save others.” “This is a book about history. I didn’t want to talk about what was going on today. But since the October 7 attacks, there has been a 400% rise in antisemitic acts in the United States.” Sharon Cameron, author, Artifice “Writing is a second career for me. I was a classical pianist for a very long time, about 20 years, and I thought that’s what I would do forever. But one fateful day, with a 45-minute session at my computer, I fell head over heels in love with creating story and the written word.” “Artifice tells the story of Isa DeSmit, a girl who has grown up in the glittering bohemian world of her parents’ art gallery in Amsterdam. But this is a world that has been utterly destroyed by the Nazi occupation. The art has been confiscated because it is considered degenerate, and the artists are gone. Friends and family are gone because they’re Jewish or communist or gay. So Isa decides to create her own revenge. She decides to learn the art of a master forger so that she can sell a forged painting to Hitler. She’ll take the money from this forged painting and use it to fund a baby smuggling ring, a wing of the Dutch resistance that is smuggling the last Jewish babies and toddlers out of the city.” “The novel is based on two true stories—of Johan van Hulst, who was an absolutely amazing man who rescued Jewish children during the war, and Han van Meegeren, one of the great art forgers of the 20th century who sold a forged Vermeer to Hermann Göring. The painting hung over Göring’s desk as the jewel of his art collection. Van Meegeren made money hand over fist, and he lived it up during the war while the rest of the country starved. The juxtaposition between these two men [is what] really interested me and made me want to write this book.” → Special Thanks Producer: Maxine Osa Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Yolanda Renee King on the Legacy of Her Grandparents Kelly Yang Has the Scoop on Top Story

In this episode, we celebrate Hispanic Latine Heritage Month with Dr. Maria Armstrong. A longtime educator, Dr. Armstrong is executive director of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents {ALAS]. She talks with host Suzanne McCabe about her experiences in education and how we can better serve Latino children and families. Dr. Armstrong grew up in the Southwest, in an extended family of Latino, Mescalaro Apache, and Yaqui heritage. “My family didn’t cross the border,” she says. “The border crossed us.” A high school dropout, she eventually earned a PhD in organizational leadership. In 2021, she was named one of the Top 20 Female Leaders in the Education Industry. Having served as a teacher, superintendent, school counselor, and tech expert, among several other roles, Dr. Armstrong is dedicated to helping children thrive, especially children who have been historically marginalized. She is an adviser to Scholastic’s Rising Voices book series elevating Latino stories and a contributor to Equity in the Classroom (Scholastic Teaching Solutions, 2022). “What I’m most proud of are my own children and grandchildren,” Dr. Armstrong says. “My children saved my life, and public education was my family’s saving grace.” → Resources Hispanic and Latine Heritage Book Picks: Check out these featured titles for young readers from Scholastic. Equity in the Classroom: 20 educational leaders, including Dr. Armstrong, share their views on what equity in education looks like and how we can achieve it. Rising Voices Library: Learn more about our K - 5 book collections, which feature stories of the Latin diaspora, as well as print and digital teaching materials. My Two Border Towns, by David Bowles and Erika Meza. A picture book debut by an award-winning author depicts a boy's life on the United States-Mexico border. (Kokilla, 2021) → Highlights Dr. Maria Armstrong, executive director, the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents [ALAS] “Being a voice is really one of the greatest gifts that I get to experience [on behalf of our administrators and superintendents], because I spend a lot of time listening to what they’re going through, but [more important] the things that they’re so proud of, that they are working on and doing for students across this nation.” “Education in our families, the Latino families, is far bigger than the four walls we send our kids to . . . from the morning to the afternoon.” “There was no white picket fence for sure. But what we had was family, and what we had was the security of knowing that when anybody in that neighborhood needed anything, we were there. Not just as an individual, but as a community.” “Food is a central part [of celebrations], because it’s something that you compartir, you share. So food is a place to be able to make something with love and be able to show that this is my specialty, and I want to share it with you. So everybody brings something that they are proud of. It makes it all tastier, of course, because you’re eating the best from everyone.” “Food is very central, but I also think that it’s just the gathering and the sharing of the stories…. The stories are always so, so rich.” → Special Thanks Producer: Maxine Osa Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Goosebumps Heads Back to Television Top Story: A Conversation With Kelly Yang and Kid Reporter Zoya Siddiqui Aaron Blabey Introduces Cat on the Run

If you’ve ever been to summer camp, or wish you had gotten the chance to go, you’ll love hearing author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka talk with host Suzanne McCabe about his latest graphic memoir. It’s called Sunshine: How One Camp Taught Me About Life, Death, and Hope. Camp Sunshine is not just any camp. It’s a place in Maine where seriously ill kids and their families get the opportunity to just be themselves and enjoy campfire stories, wilderness activities, and the company of others who also are facing extraordinary challenges. During his senior year of high school in Worcester, Massachusetts, Jarrett signed up to be a counselor at Camp Sunshine. While he looked forward to the experience, he didn’t quite know what to expect. He didn’t know that it would change his life forever. Sunshine, which is published by Scholastic Graphix, is the recipient of the 2023 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction, among other honors. Jarrett is also the author of the award-winning graphic memoir, Hey Kiddo!, and the wildly-popular Lunch Lady graphic novel series. To find out when he will be visiting your area, follow him on Twitter and Instagram @StudioJKK. → Resources Studio JJK (https://www.studiojjk.com/): Learn more about Jarrett’s books and Ted Talks, and get writing and illustrating tutorials from a master. Express Yourself (https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/02/23/are-kids-born-with-art-skills/): Jarrett is featured in this Washington Post article (https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/02/23/are-kids-born-with-art-skills/) about how everyone can benefit from creating art. Hey, Kiddo: A Conversation About Family, Addiction and Art (https://oomscholasticblog.com/podcast/hey-kiddo-conversation-about-family-addiction-and-art): Hear Jarrett talk with Scholastic Reads podcast host Suzanne McCabe about the challenges he overcame as a child to become an award-winning author and illustrator. → Highlights Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author, Sunshine Volunteering at Camp Sunshine “was something as a part of the experience of high school as the prom.” “I kept photo albums, and in those photo albums, I placed [my] sketches. In fact, we basically recreated what my photo albums look like with those chapter headers.” “I hope that young readers can understand that they have the power to make a big difference in someone’s life.” “The story is told through the perspective of me . . . a young kid who had his health and was unsure he could make a difference in the life of anyone.” → Special Thanks Producer: Maxine Osa Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Meet Our Scholastic Kid Reporters Goosebumps Heads Back to Television

In this episode, we’re celebrating Pride Month with British author and screenwriter Simon James Green. Simon joins host Suzanne McCabe to talk about Gay Club!, his hilarious new novel for young adults. The story revolves around Barney Brown, a self-described chess geek who wants to lead his high school’s LGBTQIA+ Society to better days. But Barney faces unexpected competition in the group’s presidential election from rival Bronte, who manages to have the voting opened to the entire student body at Greenacre Academy. Little by little, the stakes are raised, showing the teens at their worst—and, ultimately, their best. Simon is also the author of Heartbreak Boys, Alex in Wonderland, Noah Could Never, and You’re the One That I Want, among many other acclaimed titles. → Resources Read With Pride: These LGBTQIA+ books for kids are relatable and eye-opening for all readers. Learn More About Simon James Green: Find out why Simon is considered one of the UK’s leading writers of LGBTQIA+ fiction for teens. Order Gay Club! on Amazon: Barney is a shoo-in for president of his school's LGBTQIA+ Society until he’s not. Simon James Green’s new YA novel offers “shade, scandals, and sleazy shenanigans.” → Highlights Simon James Green, author, Gay Club! “You can't help but look at the state of politics, both in the UK and the U.S., and all around the world, actually, and just see how increasingly ridiculous things seem to be getting…. I wanted to capture a little bit of that sort of craziness.” “When I go into the schools and visit students, I am filled with a sense of hope because my overwhelming impression is that they are very open, very accepting. They really don't understand this pushback from various adults in their communities. They don't get it. They think it's ridiculous.” “It's very hard to work out who you are as a young person if you never see yourself represented in a book. And certainly for me, in the ‘90s . . . I never got to see an LGBT character in a book or an LGBT storyline. And so I grew up having no real idea about that. It would've had such an amazing effect on me if I'd seen a kid going through what I was going through, feeling similar things. It gives you an enormous amount of reassurance and comfort. It lets you know you're not the only one. And beyond that, of course, even if you're not LGBT yourself, what it does is it opens your eyes to the whole world, the wider world, the stuff that your friends, your peers, are going through.” “What you need to do is stand together, united, to fight for your rights and for freedom, and for the freedom to read whatever book you want to read in the school library.” “I wrote my first book when I was 12 years old on my grandmother’s typewriter in her little study at home.” → Special Thanks Producer: Maxine Osa Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon The Scholastic Innovation Lab Goosebumps Heads Back to Television

In 1923, Scholastic founder and CEO Maurice R. Robinson deemed that artistic students should be celebrated every bit as much as their athletic peers. Robinson created the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards to recognize talented young artists and writers from across the United States. The program gained fame through the students who won its awards, many of whom went onto groundbreaking careers in art, fashion, film, and literature. They include Bernard Malamud, Ezra Jack Keats, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Cy Twombly, Kay WalkingStick, Robert Redford, Stephen King, Ken Burns, Yolanda Wisher, Zac Posen, Lena Dunham, and Amanda Gorman. A century after Robinson laid out his vision, the program is still going strong. The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, which administers the program, recently published A Thousand Familiar Faces: 100 Years of Teen Voices. The new anthology offers a look at life through young people’s eyes, whether they’re grappling with World War I, the Great Depression, the Vietnam War, or the September 11 attacks. You’ll find memoirs, poems, and essays about teenage life, family, identity, grief, racism, and immigration. In this episode, Hannah Jones, Deimosa Webber-Bey, and Henry Trinder join host Suzanne McCabe to talk about A Thousand Familiar Faces. Hannah, who edited the anthology, is also an author. She won a Scholastic Award, herself, in 2004. Deimosa and Henry combed through the Scholastic archives to find the best of the best of student writing from the past 100 years. Deimosa is the director of Information Services & Cultural Insight at Scholastic, and Henry recently earned a master’s degree in library science from Pratt Institute. → Resources A Thousand Familiar Faces: A new anthology of award-winning teen writing features works dating back to the 1920s. You can download it for free here. Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: Administered by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the awards have fostered creativity among young people since 1923. → Highlights Hannah Jones, editor, A Thousand Familiar Faces “It was [surprising] how vital and important and immediate and fresh the voices from the ’20s and ’30s and ’40s felt.” “I want every single one of these writers to just have their moment of being read by someone new.” Henry Trinder, researcher, A Thousand Familiar Faces “Poetry was a more dominant form as a means for expression for the teenagers in the ’20s and ’30s. As that went on, short stories became more popular, and now, it seems, essays have become much more popular.” “It was comforting to read these stories and see myself in them.” Deimosa Webber-Bey, researcher, A Thousand Familiar Faces “It was very satisfying to . . . come away that much richer in knowledge about Scholastic history, about teenagers, about the 20th century.” → Special Thanks Producer: Maxine Osa Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Pride Month: Author Simon James Green Talks About Gay Club!

In this episode, we’re celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with New York Times bestselling comic artist Betty C. Tang. Betty talks with host Suzanne McCabe about her extraordinary new graphic novel, Parachute Kids. The story introduces readers to 10-year-old Feng-Li, a Taiwanese girl who can’t wait to vacation in the United States with her family. But she gets shocking news along the way. Her parents will be heading back to Taiwan after the family’s vacation, leaving Feng-Li and her older brother and sister to fend for themselves. By turns harrowing and hilarious, the story shows the siblings learning to navigate a strange new country and language on their own, while struggling to hold the family together. Betty is the New York Times bestselling illustrator of the Jacky Ha-Ha series of graphic novels by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. She has worked for several Hollywood animation studies, including Disney TV and Dreamworks Animation. She also co-directed an animated feature called Where’s the Dragon? → Resources Parachute Kids: Betty C. Tang’s graphic novel about three siblings living on their own as undocumented new immigrants is inspired by her own childhood as a parachute kid. Honoring AANHPI Voices: Check out these titles for young readers. → Highlights Betty C. Tang, author, Parachute Kids “A lot of times, books tend to make parents the bad guys, [but] parents who want an opportunity to provide a new life for their children are not villains.” “I wanted to be a manga artist, and I couldn’t. So now here I am creating a graphic novel.” “[Feng-Li’s] purpose is to hold her family together before she loses everything.” “To the immigrant readers, whether they’re parachute kids or not, I would like them to realize that they’re not alone and that they can get through this.” “Sometimes, as a newcomer, you really feel like you’re the only one.” “I hope the book will help foster a sense of empathy.” → Special Thanks Producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Pride Month

In this episode, we introduce you to siblings Merwin and Louise. They are two tiny sycamore seeds, living in a world filled with dinosaurs, asteroids, and volcanoes. Merwin and Louise are the creation of author and illustrator Brian Selznick, who discusses his new novel, Big Tree, with host Suzanne McCabe The siblings’ story began with an idea from filmmaker Steven Spielberg. It evolved into Big Tree, an epic adventure of more than 500 pages. In the episode, you’ll hear a clip of the audiobook, which is narrated by Meryl Streep. Brian is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator whose books have sold millions of copies, garnered countless awards worldwide, and been translated into more than 35 languages. He broke open the novel form with his genre-defying thematic trilogy, beginning with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was adapted into Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning movie, Hugo. → Resources Big Tree (https://www.amazon.com/Big-Tree-Brian-Selznick/dp/1338180630/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JNZUZ0EXLFNP&keywords=Big+Tree+Brian+Selznick&qid=1682008212&sprefix=big+tree+brian+selznick%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1): The fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little sycamore seeds, Louise and Merwin, in this epic adventure. Big Tree audiobook (https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Big-Tree/dp/B0BRQWVR57/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1682008212&sr=8-1): The audio version of Big Tree is narrated by Meryl Streep and features music composed by Ernest Troost. → Highlights Brian Selznick, author, Big Tree “[Steven Spielberg] realized he had never seen a movie told from the point of view of nature—a movie about nature from nature’s point of view.” “The pandemic hit, and it became very clear that the movie was never going to happen…. But I had fallen in love with these characters and the story.” “When you begin Big Tree, it looks like we’re in a forest today, but then you eventually discover there’s a dinosaur walking by, and you realize we’re 66 million years in the past.” “The anthropomorphizing that I’m doing is all based in scientific ideas.” “We’re facing a real threat to the environment today. The world is in real danger.” “I really do hope that [readers] take away a love for the characters because that’s the main thing I feel about Merwin and Louise.” → Special Thanks Producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Betty C. Tang: Parachute Kids Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Everyone loves a good Titanic story. Jennifer A. Nielsen has written a great one! In this episode, she talks with host Suzanne McCabe about Iceberg, her new middle grade novel. It’s already a best-seller. Iceberg follows the journey of 12-year-old Hazel Rothbury, who is traveling alone on the Titanic. She dreams of escaping her fate as a factory worker by telling hidden stories about the majestic ship that is speeding across the Atlantic Ocean. Jennifer is also the author of the Ascendance series, the historical thrillers Resistance and A Night Divided, and several other acclaimed titles. → Resources Iceberg (https://www.amazon.com/Iceberg-Jennifer-Nielsen/dp/1338795023/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RI2GNY43N120&keywords=iceberg+jennifer+nielsen&qid=1681237168&s=books&sprefix=Iceberg+%2Cstripbooks%2C124&sr=1-1): In this middle-grade novel, readers meet 12-year-old Hazel Rothbury, who is traveling from her home in England aboard the celebrated Titanic. Jennifer A. Nielsen (https://jennielsen.com/): Learn more about the New York Times bestselling author. → Highlights Jennifer A. Nielsen, author, Iceberg “Curiosity is such a gift, a trait, for anybody to have, and Hazel is thick with it.” “There are so many ‘What if’ questions. What if this one thing might have been different? Could all of history have changed?” “You can write your future, and if you don’t like the future that is ahead for you, write!” “A reader will always get what they need from a story.” → Special Thanks Producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon EARTH DAY—Brian Selznick: Big Tree AAPI MONTH—Betty C. Tang: Parachute Kids

During Women’s History Month, we celebrate women who paved the way in a range of fields—from politics and the law to aviation and technology. In this episode, host Suzanne McCabe talks with Ruchira Gupta, a journalist, author, and activist who is ensuring a future for girls who otherwise might not have one. Ruchira has worked tirelessly to help girls in India, Nepal, and other countries escape the brutal world of child sex trafficking. She is the co-founder of Apne Aap, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that empowers women and girls to escape the vicious cycle of prostitution. Ruchira’s work with vulnerable women and girls inspired her new novel for young adults. It’s called I Kick and I Fly. The story introduces readers to 14-year-old Heera, who is growing up in a red-light district in India. Heera escapes being sold into the sex trade when a local activist teaches her kung fu and helps her understand the value of her body. As Gloria Steinem says, I Kick and I Fly is a book “that could save lives.” Ruchira is also a visiting professor at New York University. Her documentary about sex trafficking in India and Nepal, The Selling of Innocents, won an Emmy Award in 1996 for outstanding investigative journalism. She holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Smith College. → Resources Meet Ruchira Gupta: Learn more about the author, artist, and activist, who divides her time between New York and Forbesganj, her childhood home in the foothills of the Himalayas. Apne Aap: The NGO that Ruchira co-founded works to end sex trafficking by preventing intergenerational prostitution. I Kick and I Fly: Order the new YA novel by Ruchira Gupta. Celebrating Courageous Women: Check out these biographies for young people from Scholastic. → Highlights Ruchira Gupta, author, I Kick and I Fly “I Kick and I Fly is about a young girl who's only 14 years old, and she’s born in a nomadic tribe in India. She’s about to be sold into prostitution until a woman’s right advocate enrolls her in a kung fu program. Through the practice of kung fu, she discovers the power of her body, and fights for it.” “I've been running an NGO called Apne Aap, which means self-action in Hindi. The NGO works amongst nomadic tribes which are marginalized, so marginalized that prostitution is passed on from mother to daughter, and pimping from father to son.” “I was a journalist, and I was walking through the hills of Nepal, when I came across rows of villages with missing girls. I decided that I wanted to find out more, so I began to ask the men drinking tea and playing cards where the girls were. And the answer changed my life. They told me that they were in Bombay. Now, Bombay was nearly 1,400 kilometers away, and these villages were in remote Himalayan hamlets…. I followed the story, and I ended up in the brothels of Bombay. I saw little girls as young as 13 and 14 locked up in tiny rooms for years.” “I went on to win an Emmy for outstanding investigative journalism. And when I was on stage in the Broadway Marquis Hotel, and everyone was clapping, and there were the bright lights, all I could see were the eyes of the women in the brothels of Bombay who had spoken out in my documentary, because they said they wanted to save their daughters.” “Behind the story of me being a journalist was that I used to love reading books as a child. And librarians were some of the most important people in my life. My mother enrolled me as a 10-year-old in a library. These librarians would tell me, ‘Take this book, take that book,’ so I lived in the world of stories. I became a free thinker because of the stories I read, because of the family I grew up in, which encouraged ideas, but also the books that I read.” “I saw the mothers who were scared to come to our meetings slowly challenge the men who would say, ‘We’ll bury you alive,’ ‘We'll cut your head off,’ et cetera. And they would still walk from that mud hut to our mud hut, which is just 500 feet away, but it was really an emotional journey. They would come in spite of the heckling, the shouting. I could go back home to the safety of my garden and my walls, and the women could not. And yet they took this on.” “The three top organized crimes in the world are drug smuggling, arms smuggling, and human trafficking. A girl can be traded, or a boy can be traded again and again, whereas drugs can be consumed only once.” “Most of the kids trafficked in the U.S. are from inside the country. They are normally poor, they are normally female, and they are normally from a marginalized race, Black, or from Native American communities, and they’re teenagers.” “How do we say there’s bodily autonomy compared to bodily shaming? How do we say, instead of bullying, there’s friendship and equality? How can we say that, instead of alienation, there’s community? All these things are there in my book.” → Special Thanks Producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon THE TITANIC—Jennifer A. Nielsen: Iceberg EARTH DAY—Brian Selznick: Big Tree

When Akim Aliu was a young boy, he and his family moved to Canada. His parents wanted a better life for their two sons. Akim’s father is Nigerian, and his mother Ukrainian. Whether they lived in Ukraine, Nigeria, or Canada, the family faced discrimination and bigotry. Things didn’t improve when Akim developed a love of ice hockey. Money was tight, and the sport wasn’t welcoming to children of color. Still, Akim’s parents did everything they could to help him follow his dreams. Akim made it all the way to the National Hockey League. But he faced systemic racism at every level of the game. He’s now speaking out in the hope that a new generation of young athletes won’t have to endure the brutality he did. In this Black History Month episode, Akim talks with host Suzanne McCabe about Dreamer, his new graphic memoir for 8- to 12-year-olds. Co-authored by Greg Anderson Elysée, the book is illustrated by Karen De La Vega and Marcus Williams, and published by Scholastic Graphix and Kaepernick Publishing. Akim also founded the Time to Dream Foundation and is co-chairman of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, where he continues his mission of broadening access and eradicating racism in youth sports. → Resources Dreamer (https://www.amazon.com/Akim-Aliu-Dreamer-Original-Graphic/dp/1338787608/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LEWB9Q8MJEDX&keywords=Dreamer+Akim+Aliu&qid=1675802317&sprefix=dreamer+akim+aliu%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-1): Akim’s graphic memoir for 8- to 12-year-olds is co-authored by Greg Anderson Elysée and illustrated by Karen De La Vega and Marcus Williams. Hockey Diversity Alliance (https://hockeydiversityalliance.org/#our-purpose): Find out how the organization that Akim co-founded is changing the face of hockey. Racism in the NHL (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/sports/hockey/akim-aliu-nhl-racism.html): As this New York Times article explains, Akim publicly addressed racism in the hockey world in 2020. 35 Books for Black History Month (https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/book-lists/29-books-for-black-history-month-.html): These titles for grades K-12 celebrate individuals whose contributions have changed the world. → Highlights Akim Aliu, co-author, Dreamer “The whole goal around doing this book was to inspire the next generation of kids who look like me, Black and Brown kids, but also at the same time, the kids who are socio-economically disadvantaged. My story is one that had a lot of trials and tribulations, but I also learned a lot through my journey.” “It’s a book to inspire people who are going through tough times, to know that anything is possible. I’m a kid who was born in Africa who ended up making it to the NHL.” “Hockey . . . is my passion, and it’s my love. I’m glad I got those $10 pair of skates, because they gave me an opportunity to be where I am today.” “Starting at such an early age, at 11, 12 years old, and hearing the N-word being hurled at you, and not being able to do anything about it…. The hardest thing about it was just never, ever playing with anybody else who looked like me.” “In my 12 years that I played professionally, I played with one other player of color…. There’s not really anybody to turn to that you can have a conversation with, that would understand what you’re going through.” “There are a lot of kids who look like me and come from the areas that I come from that also deserve an opportunity and deserve not to be excluded from our game.” “For me, dreaming and faith go hand in hand because . . . it’s believing in something that you can’t yet see.” “I hope kids don’t give up on their dreams.” → Special Thanks Producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Ruchira Gupta: I Kick and I Fly Brian Selznick: Big Tree

If you haven’t met Eva the Owlet, you’re in for a treat. She’s headed to Apple TV+ for her own animated series, which debuts on March 31. Eva is the adorable narrator of Owl Diaries, a New York Times bestselling book series by author and illustrator Rebecca Elliott. In this episode, Rebecca talks with host Suzanne McCabe about the runaway success of Owl Diaries and Eva the Owlet, the upcoming adaptation from Apple TV+. Rebecca will be participating in this year’s World Read Aloud Day, which takes place on February 1. For the past 13 years, World Read Aloud Day has called attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read aloud. The global effort, created by the nonprofit Lit World and sponsored by Scholastic, is celebrated annually in more than 173 countries. This year, for the first time, there will be a live read-a-thon featuring Rebecca and several other favorite Scholastic authors, including Dav Pilkey and Brian Selznick. “Many studies have shown the educational benefits of children reading aloud,” Rebecca says. “But that’s not the main reason you should read aloud. The main reason is it’s fun, and it’s about sharing stories. To be human is to want to share stories.” → Resources Rebecca Elliott: (https://www.rebeccaelliott.com/) Learn more about the best-selling author. Eva the Owlet (https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2022/05/apple-tv-announces-new-kids-and-family-animated-series-eva-the-owlet-based-on-bestselling-owl-diaries-childrens-books/): The spirited narrator of Owl Diaries gets her own animated show. World Read Aloud Day: (https://www.scholastic.com/worldreadaloudday?eml=CORP/ps/20230110/Google/txtl/WRAD%7CNonBrand%7CJanuary23/PAG/WRAD%7CNonBrand%7CJanuary23/RSA2&gclid=Cj0KCQiAic6eBhCoARIsANlox845cSH3aEvKTtXtCIwylbSdQHkzQN9YflYhUnBgE02SCWPmsDXMtZQaAoquEALw_wcB) Download the “WRAD-a-thon” schedule and instructions. 100 Best Read-Aloud Books (https://www.scholastic.com/100bestreadaloudbooks/index.html): Check out this list of favorite read-alouds for young readers. → Highlights Rebecca Elliott, author, Owl Diaries “Eva Wingdale—she’s a creative and adventurous owlet, and she lives in Treetopolis next to her best friend, Lucy…. She’s got a little brother and an older brother who can be a bit of a pain sometimes, and her parents. She goes to Treetop Owlementary School with her friends. She just gets up to lots of adventures.” “Owls obviously are all around us. In fact, I can hear owls most nights here. But you rarely ever see them, so you can almost imagine that owls have a secret world, where they do go to school, and they do speak to each other on their Pinecone phones.” “Kids will smell a moral a mile off. [But] if you can impart some sort of tiny life lessons in a fun way, then why not.” “I wrote the kind of book that I would have wanted to read when I was eight or nine. Maybe that’s why it worked…. I was obsessed with animals and nature, but also, of course, being that age, obsessed with my friends, my family. I loved starting clubs.” “Eva is always starting clubs, too. Family and friends should always be the most important thing at that age. It’s everything. But if you can get in some fantastical adventure—of course, the main characters fly. They’re like superheroes.” “Every chapter ends on some sort of cliffhanger, so it makes [readers] want to pick up the book the next time.” “I hear from lots and lots of parents, [saying], ‘My child has learning difficulties. My child has dyslexia. Or my child is a reluctant reader. And it was Owl Diaries that got them reading every night, and now we look forward to story time.’” “Eva the Owlet, based on the Owl Diaries series, will be released on Friday, March 31, in over 100 countries. I have seen a tiny bit of it, and it’s just amazing how they’ve brought my illustrations to life. It’s 3-D. It’s beautiful. It’s funny. It’s fun. It’s fast-paced. It’s cute as anything, and they still got the diary-writing element in. Obviously, I like it because it’s based on my books, but it’s such a classy show. The girl who voices Eva is just an incredible talent.” “Many studies have shown the educational benefits of children reading aloud—vocabulary, comprehension, understanding what they’re reading, and confidence in their own voice. Reading aloud just affirms the value of reading…. But you’re never going to get a kid to do anything by [listing] the educational benefits of something. So for me, that’s not the main reason you should read aloud. The main reason is it’s fun, and it’s about sharing stories. To be human is to want to share stories.” “Films and TV are great, but books put you in the action.” “If you’re reading a funny book out loud, and the person you’re reading to laughs, my goodness, that’s an amazing thing.” “Any book you like is better read aloud if you can share it. And it doesn’t need to be books. It can be comics. My 10-year-old gets a fantastic kids’ newspaper. He’ll read aloud his favorite stories.” “In terms of picture books for young readers, you just can’t beat The Gruffalo (https://www.amazon.com/Gruffalo-Julia-Donaldson/dp/0142403873/ref=asc_df_0142403873/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312695551910&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12390668749136214304&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004077&hvtargid=pla-526333533028&psc=1&region_id=373786) by Julia Donaldson. It’s so fun to read aloud. Part of the success of The Gruffalo—it’s a fantastic story, and kids love to hear it—is parents love to read it. It’s funny, but the flow, the rhythm, is just so pleasing.” “For older kids, I do think a scary book is a great read-aloud. My favorite would be The Graveyard Book (https://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Book-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0060530944) by Neil Gaiman. It’s about a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. Each chapter is a story in itself.” → Special Thanks Producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Akim Aliu Introduces Dreamer A Conversation With Ruby Bridges

In 1941, when Yaffa Eliach was six years old, German troops invaded her town in what was then Poland. Most of the Jewish population was rounded up and murdered. Within two days, 900 years of history was sundered. But Yaffa and her family managed to escape. After the war, Yaffa settled in the United States, where she earned a PhD, writing and telling stories about the Holocaust. Yaffa is the subject of a new picture book by Chana Stiefel. Illustrated by Susan Gal, the book is called The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs. Chana is the award-winning author of more than 30 books for children. In this episode, she talks with host Suzanne McCabe about Yaffa’s remarkable story, The Tower of Life, and why it’s so important for young people to learn about the Holocaust. → Resources Chana Stiefel: Includes a teaching guide for The Tower of Life and summaries of other books by the award-winning author. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Learn more about Yaffa Eliach’s “Tower of Faces,” and get resources for observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. → Highlights Chana Stiefel, author, The Tower of Life “Yaffa was born in a shtetl called Eishyshok, which was then part of Poland and now Lithuania. She was born in 1935. When the Nazis invaded, the Jews were rounded up into the synagogue. Her father had told the family to hide.” “Two of Yaffa’s grandmothers, not just her mother, worked. One of them sold candles at the local market, and the other was the town photographer. Yaffa's grandfather had visited America in the 1920s, and he came home with this new invention, a camera, and they started a business above the family pharmacy. Everyone would come to have their photo taken. People would send New Year's cards, Rosh Hashanah cards, to their families who had left Eishyshok.” “When Yaffa fled, she had the sense to tuck some of those photos into her shoes. She held onto them throughout the war, and that definitely played a role in the incredible exhibit she later created.” “The focus of my book is not so much the war, but the life before the war and the rebuilding afterward, and how Yaffa rebuilt her town.” “I learned from Yaffa's daughter, Smadar Rosensweig, who is also a professor, that her mother was a groundbreaking teacher and she wanted to teach. She wanted to create a curriculum about the Holocaust. But after the war, many survivors didn't even want to talk about their history, and she felt it was so important. She realized that a lot of the history that was being taught was from the Nazi perspective, and she wanted to change that.” “She encouraged Holocaust survivors to tell their stories, and she began documenting them. And that was groundbreaking work. No one had done that at that point.” “In 1979, President Jimmy Carter wanted to build a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Washington, D.C., and he asked Yaffa to help build a memorial. She didn't want to focus on death and dying and destruction. She wanted to focus on the lives that were lived and the beautiful lives of the people from her town. She remembered the photos she had tucked in her shoes, and she thought, well, other people must have photos, too.” “She traveled for 17 years, to six continents, to nearly all 50 United States, and she collected 6,000 photographs, and she built this “Tower of Life,” which has over a thousand photographs in it.” “Yaffa wanted people to see themselves in these photographs. That, essentially, was her mission. And you do, you connect, because here you are seeing people celebrating with their families, having weddings, playing outdoors, the picture of Yaffa feeding the chickens, hugging each other. And it’s very relatable. And you realize the tragic endings for many or most of these people all around her.” “One thing that really was gripping to [illustrator Susan Gal] was that when she started to research Nazis, she was seeing a lot of images come up of present-day Nazis, neo-Nazis. And that was really upsetting and disturbing to her, and she just threw herself entirely into this story because she felt it was so important.” “If you look at the book, you'll see that the pages of the Germans and Nazis invading, those people, the soldiers don’t have faces. Because she felt that if you try to take away someone’s humanity, you don’t deserve to have your face in a book. So she erased their faces.” “When Yaffa and her family were in hiding, her parents taught her that a glimmer of light can chase away the darkness. Yaffa’s mother taught her how to read and write by etching letters into the walls of a shelter where they were staying. They were clay walls. You'll see a page where her mother is writing on the wall, and that’s actually my Hebrew handwriting. I speak and write in Hebrew. The words are tikvah, which means hope, shalom, which means peace, ohr, which means light and haim, which is life. And those are the major themes of the book.” “When you see a lot of photographs of the Holocaust, you see these horrible photos of emaciated victims, and they’re dehumanized. That was what the Nazis mission was, to dehumanize the Jewish people. So that’s what you see in the photographs, people who are starving and they don’t even look human. By restoring humanity to the victims, Yaffa restored their dignity. [She showed] that these were people just like you and me. And I think that’s a universal message, that we need to stop hating each other and bullying, and we need to stop just othering people. We are all human, and we need to see our common bonds.” “There are so many wonderful books out there about Jewish life. In addition to books about the Holocaust, it’d be wonderful if people could also enjoy books about Jewish life.” → Special Thanks Producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon World Read Aloud Day Akim Aliu Introduces Dreamer

How can individual members of a community help children flourish in the classroom? One way is through mentoring. Scholastic’s nationwide mentorship program helps students boost their literacy skills while creating meaningful bonds with caring individuals. Our read-aloud mentoring program, which comes with books and teaching guides, is called R.E.A.L. — READ, EXCEL, ACHIEVE, and LEAD. In this episode, in honor of National Mentoring Month, educator Christian Adair tells host Suzanne McCabe how the R.E.A.L. program has enhanced learning and community engagement in his Kentucky school district. “You want to be very thoughtful and purposeful when you engage the community,” he says. “You need to start creating a relationship before you ask [a potential mentor] to do something. You need to acknowledge their existence. You need to acknowledge that they’re worthy, and they’re wanted.” Christian is the founder and director of Alpha League, a mentoring and leadership organization focused on underserved and marginalized boys and young men. He currently leads mentoring initiatives in the Fayette County Public Schools. → Resources R.E.A.L.: Learn more about Scholastic’s read-aloud mentoring program. Bridging the gap between the community and the classroom: Educator Christian Adair discusses the power of mentoring. → Highlights Christian Adair, educator and mentor, Fayette County Public Schools “We have over 185 languages in our city of Lexington, and over 94 languages in our school system. Spanish is the second most spoken language…. Because of that, we wanted to be more inclusive and diverse in our literature, bringing in readers and volunteers to interact with our students.” “We wanted our kids to have books with characters that looked like them. And we wanted students to have books with characters that didn't look like them.” “We wanted our African American students to see men of color reading. But we realized that it was just as important for our teachers to see men of color reading. It was just as important as for our White female students to see men of color reading.” “The students were benefiting, but I think the [mentors] benefited just as much if not more because they became educators, in a sense. They were connecting to our students, and they found themselves in that.” “The books were reflective of our students, and that’s probably one of the most exciting things, when kids open up a book and say, ‘Wow, that’s me in that book.’” “This program isn’t just about reading. This program is about the connection and the fact that I was there. I showed that I cared…. That’s when I realized I had to go get more men, especially men of color, to come in and read.” “We were thinking literacy, literacy, literacy. But social emotional learning also took place…. We know that when you build family and community engagement, you build relationships with your students, and you’re able to reach them and educate them better.” “One of the first books I actually read from cover to cover was about Malcolm X, and that wasn't until high school. I am 50 years old, so I didn't have that connection [before]. And the reading wasn't that fun. When I did read, it was a Sports Illustrated, it was about sports . . . because that’s what I was shown. That's what I thought I was supposed to be. And I didn't see the books about all the amazing accomplishments of African Americans to this country, not just to the African American community, but all the contributions that African Americans have made for everyone to do better in the United States.” “We got to say that 56,000 books went home. We had over 500 new volunteers. We had over 150 men of color volunteering. We had over 50 businesses and organizations volunteering and competing to be in our schools.” “Historically, men of color haven't felt very welcome in the schools. We haven't felt welcome because our interaction with school, according to the data, hasn’t been that great. When you create a welcoming atmosphere and an understanding that they have value, they can bring value to the school because they're going to bring a lens that isn't there. They're going to bring a cultural connection…. But you have to do it on purpose. You have to let them be themselves and tell them to bring their authentic self. Tell them to bring their stories.” “You want to be very thoughtful and purposeful when you engage the community…. You need to start creating a relationship before you ask [a potential mentor] to do something. You need to acknowledge their existence. You need to acknowledge that they’re worthy, and they’re wanted. Sometimes, we only go after people when we want to ask them to do something for us, when there should be some type of relationship started before then.” “We had high school students volunteering, too…. I envision those students continuing after they graduate. [Many are going to want to become] teachers, and we need more teachers.” “Coaches were reading at football practice. I asked them to read for five minutes before practice starts. [I said], ‘They might not hear what you said, but they saw that you were reading.’” → Special Thanks Associate producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Remembering the Holocaust World Read Aloud Day Black History Month

The arrival of the Mayflower in Plimouth in 1620, and the Pilgrims’ feast with Wampanoag Indians a year later, are recalled each November when we celebrate Thanksgiving. But what actually happened at that three-day feast, and how did the narrative change over time? In 2021, host Suzanne McCabe posed those questions to Chris Newell, an award-winning educator and author, and a proud citizen of the Passamaquoddy tribe in Maine. In this episode, Chris returns to talk about Native American Heritage Month and what it means to him. Later, listeners can hear the original conversation about Chris’s acclaimed book for children, If You Lived During the Plimouth Thanksgiving (https://www.amazon.com/You-Lived-During-Plimoth-Thanksgiving/dp/1338726374). With help from Wampanoag scholar Linda Coombs, Chris offers young readers a fuller understanding of how we came to celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States, as well as the toll that colonization took on Indian tribes. In the discussion, Chris and Suzanne were joined by Katie Heit, a senior editor at Scholastic and the editor of the What If book series. → Resources In 2021, Smithsonian Voices (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2021/11/23/if-you-lived-during-the-plimoth-thanksgiving-by-chris-newell-exposes-new-truths-about-a-major-american-holiday/) spotlighted If You Lived During the Plimouth Thanksgiving. If You Lived During the Plimouth Thanksgiving is available from Scholastic (https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/books/if-you-lived-during-the-plimoth-thanksgiving-9781338726367.html) and Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/You-Lived-During-Plimoth-Thanksgiving/dp/1338726374). In this Nation article, (https://www.thenation.com/article/society/icwa-supreme-court-libretti-custody-case/) author Rebecca Nagle explains what’s at stake in Haaland v. Brackeen, a case before the Supreme Court that threatens to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. → Highlights Chris Newell, author, If You Lived During the Plimouth Thanksgiving: “English is a foreign language. Our languages are actually the original languages of this landscape.” “When we teach about Native peoples . . . we start in the present to make sure people understand that these cultures are still here. They are still valid, and they are still just as valuable to the future of this country as they were during colonization.” “The biggest issue we’re facing right now is a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act. This particular case before the Supreme Court is a big deal for all tribes in the United States because it could affect the way the U.S. looks at the sovereignty of our nations.” “What we call Thanksgiving today didn't exist necessarily in the seventeenth century, and you learn that in the book…. I give people a more real picture of how our country actually came to be. There is some good, but there’s also a lot of bad and ugly.” “It’s about looking at these histories, being critical of them as human beings, and saying where things went wrong so that we can learn from them and create a better collective future for all of us.” “I wanted to make sure that in the book the Wampanoag people were being centered within their own historical narrative. That involves including the complexity of life before 1620.” “The 1621 feast . . . became a seminal moment of the creation of the country. And it’s a very beautiful feast of Native people and colonists getting together. But as much as we have lionized and lauded the story in history, it was so unremarkable to the English that they actually only wrote a paragraph about it.” It wasn't until President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation that Thanksgiving was regularly commemorated each year. “The [Civil War] still raging. The North was winning. Abraham Lincoln was in charge of the Union Army, and they were thinking, ‘What do we do after the war is over? The Southern states are going to still be part of this country. How do we bring all these people together?’ There was a lot of pressure on Abraham Lincoln to find a way to heal from the bloodiest war on this landscape ever.” → Special Thanks Producer: Bridget Benjamin Associate producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl → Coming Soon Dr. Karen Mapp on Family-School Partnerships

We often talk about the joy and power of reading. But how does a child get there? How do they actually learn how to read, to recognize words on a page and make sense of them? In this episode, Dr. Julia B. Lindsey talks with host Suzanne McCabe about the science of reading and how she recommends putting it into practice. Dr. Lindsey is a leading expert on foundational skills and early reading. Her new book for educators is called Reading Above the Fray: Reliable, Research Based Routines for Developing Decoding Skills. A former kindergarten and first-grade teacher, Dr. Lindsey earned her PhD in Literacy Education at the University of Michigan. She now works with teachers, district personnel, and curriculum developers to translate reading research into practice. You can follow her on Twitter at @JuliaBLindsey.

In this episode, we’re celebrating Hispanic and Latine Heritage Month with three favorite Scholastic authors. First, Carmen Agra Deedy talks about her extraordinary new picture book, The Children’s Moon. Illustrated by Jim LaMarche, the book is available in both English and Spanish editions. Carmen is a master storyteller who was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in Decatur, Georgia. Her acclaimed picture books include Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, Rita & Ralph’s Rotten Day, and The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet. Next, author and actress Sonia Manzano, known to generations of kids as the beloved Maria on Sesame Street, discusses Coming Up Cuban, her lyrical new novel for middle graders. Sonia, who has won 15 Emmy Awards, is also the author of Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx and The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano, which won the Pura Belpre Award in 2013. Sonia’s animated series for PBS Kids, Alma’s Way, was recently renewed for a second season. Inspired by her own childhood, it features a 6-year-old New Yorker of Puerto Rican heritage. Last but not least, Claribel A. Ortega introduces Witchlings, her highly-anticipated novel for middle-graders. The imaginative story follows a group of aspiring witches who learn that the magic in their lives is found not so much in the spells they cast but in the friendships they make. A former newspaper reporter of Dominican heritage, Claribel is also the author of Ghost Squad, a New York Times bestseller.

Every September, we celebrate banned books. These are the stories that are so powerful—and so transformative—that some people think others shouldn’t be able to read them. Banning or censoring a book may be done with good intentions, but it ends up limiting access to diverse, often marginalized, voices and deprives readers of important historical information. In this episode, award-winning author Amy Sarig King talks with host Suzanne McCabe about Attack of the Black Rectangles, her new novel for middle graders. The book, which takes on censorship and intolerance, is based on an experience Amy had in her Pennsylvania town. After her son came home from school with a novel about the Holocaust, in which certain passages were blacked out, the author sought to find out why. What followed may surprise you. Amy is also the author of The Year We Fell From Space, Me and Marvin Gardens, and several other acclaimed titles for young readers.

In this episode, we’re honoring John Lewis, the civil rights hero and Congressman who died in 2020. The bond that Lewis forged with young Tybre Faw is the subject of a new picture book by best-selling author Andrea Davis Pinkney. Illustrated by Keith Henry Brown, the book is called Because of You, John Lewis: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship. Andrea joins host Suzanne McCabe to talk about the inspiration for the book—the moment she saw Tybre, then 12, reading William Ernest Henley’s poem, “Invictus,” at the Congressman’s funeral. “I watched this child honoring this civil rights hero, and I wondered what had led him to this moment,” Andrea says. Tybre first met Lewis in 2018 in Selma, Alabama. His two grandmothers had driven him from their home in Tennessee to the annual march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bridge was the site of an assault by state troopers on Lewis and hundreds of voting rights demonstrators in March 1965. “Bloody Sunday” would prove to be a turning point in the civil rights movement, outraging the nation and leading to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act. Later in the episode, U.S. Representative Nikema Williams shares her memories of Lewis and explains how Tybre and other young people are following in the courageous leader’s footsteps. Williams now represents Georgia in the same congressional seat Lewis once held.

In this episode, author and illustrator Aaron Blabey talks about the creation of The Bad Guys, his hit book series with Scholastic. The series inspired the 2022 computer-animated film of the same name from DreamWorks Animation. Aaron describes the series, which follows the adventures of a hapless gang of criminal animals who finally do good, as “Tarantino for kids.” The impulse in creating the series, Aaron tells host Suzanne McCabe, “was to make sure my son had a book to read that was fun.” The author and illustrator, who was an award-winning actor in Australia in a previous life, is also the creator of the Pig the Pug series and Thelma the Unicorn. Resources: Aaron Blabey: Learn more about the #1 New York Times best-selling author. The Bad Guys: Read the books. Watch the movie. Highlights: Aaron Blabey, author and illustrator, The Bad Guys: “Mr. Snake is my favorite of the ‘Bad Guys’ because he’s the one who struggles the most with the journey, which makes him the most interesting to write.” “Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake are two halves of me…. I think we all have it—your optimistic side and your pessimistic side.” “When kids saw the cover with the guys in the suits, with a shark and a wolf and this title, The Bad Guys, I think there’s this sort of frisson of ‘that looks a little bit naughty.’” Of his teenage sons’ view of him: “’It’s just Dad in the garage. How hard can it be?’” Special Thanks: Producer: Bridget Benjamin Associate producer: Constance Gibbs Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl Coming Soon: Because of You, John Lewis: A conversation with author Andrea Davis Pinkney and U.S. Representative Nikema Williams