Inspired by Dr. King’s unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and a compassionate society, Realize the Dream embodies his vision of a strong, unified foundation for all. The initiative seeks to empower hundreds of thousands of teachers and bring hope to over six million students in underfunded schools across the United States.

As a company deeply committed to education and literacy for every child, Scholastic has partnered with this transformative mission. And as part of this commitment, Scholastic will be donating half a million dollars’ worth of books over the course of the initiative to help support Realize the Dream’s ongoing programming.

Late last year, Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King visited Scholastic Headquarters in New York City to discuss the initiative in a conversation moderated by award-winning author, and Scholastic Vice President and Editor, Andrea Davis Pinkney. In today’s episode, the Kings and Andrea are back, joining guest-host Billy DiMichele in the studio for another compelling conversation about Realize the Dream!

→ Resources

About Realize the Dream: Learn more about the initiative.

About Martin Luther King III: Learn more about the American human rights activist, philanthropist, advocate and the eldest son of Doctor Martin Luther King Junior and Coretta Scott King.

About Andrea Waters King: Learn more about the social justice leader and President of the nonprofit Drum Major Institute.

About Andrea Davis Pinkney: Learn more about award-winning author award-winning author, and Scholastic Vice President and Editor.

About Yolanda Renee King and We Dream a World: Learn more about the author, activist and sole grandchild of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Corette Scott King, and her book.

Realizing the Dream with Scholastic: Kid Reporter Leyla Saldanha’s coverage of Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, and Yolanda Renee King’s October 2024 visit to Scholastic Headquarters to talk about the Realize the Dream initiative.

We Dream a World: Celebrating Black History Month With Yolanda Renee King: Suzanne McCabe speaks with Yolanda Renee King and Andrea Davis Pinkney in this 2024 episode about the picture book We Dream a World: Carrying the Light from My Grandparents Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

→ Highlights

*Martin Luther King III, American human rights activist, philanthropist, and advocate
*
“We wanted to create something that causes people to turn to each other. As we’re working together, we’re doing something that’s bigger than ourselves, in a climate, which is divided, this will hopefully begin to create the beginning elements of some level of community.”

“What we really want is not to share what someone should do. What we want is people to decide for themselves what they want to do…What we know is when one is passionate about something, they’re going to do a better job.”

“Civility is kindness. Civility is how we say, what we say. Because we can say it in a constructive way, or we can say it in a destructive way. And we need to be creating the climate for constructiveness.”

“My greatest hope is that our nation becomes closer and not to just Realize the Dream, but people will realize their own dreams in a way that compliments everyone.”

Arndrea Waters King, social justice leader and President of the nonprofit Drum Major Institute
“One person can make a difference. All together we can change the world.”

“It is important, again, for all of us to find ourselves within the King legacy, but also for everyone to understand that if you’re doing something for someone else, if you’re serving your community, you are doing something to realize the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.”

“Acknowledging the shared humanity of us all, at its core, is the foundational principle of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King’s work…As a humanity, we are all brothers and sisters. And that to me is what the cornerstone of what this movement is.”

*Andrea Davis Pinkney, award-winning author and Vice President and Executive Editor, Scholastic Trade Publishing
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“[Kids] want to take action. They’re big-hearted. And they know what it means to work together.”

“As well all know, books change lives. Books spark conversations. And that’s what We Dream a World does. It’s changed lives. It has sparked conversations.”

“Stories connect us. They unify us. They bring us together. In the case of the book, We Dream a World, it’s a jewel and a tool. It’s a jewel because it glistens, because its beautifully illustrated, because young people will engage with it and its beautifully written. It’s a tool, because it’s a way that young people can have the roadmap to say, “how do I make a change?”

→ Special Thanks
Producers: Maxine Osa, Anne Sparkman, Allyson Barkan
Sound Engineer: S. Shin
Music Composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

→ Coming Soon
Art & Writing 2025

He talked with host Suzanne McCabe about the genesis of Cat on the Run, his latest series for young readers. In Book 1, Cat on the Run in Cat of Death!, Princess Beautiful, the world’s biggest cat video star, is accused of a crime she didn’t commit. Can the most famous feline on the planet avoid capture and prove her innocence? Readers will find out in Aaron’s hilarious new trilogy about the perils of social media and cancel culture.

You probably know Aaron from The Bad Guys, his mega-bestselling book series. The Bad Guys was made into an animated movie in 2022 by Universal Pictures and DreamWorks. A sequel is on the way next summer.

Aaron is also the author of the popular series Pig the Pug and Thelma the Unicorn. With the 20th and final installment of The Bad Guys due out in November, Aaron says that he’s ready to step away from writing.

“I always wrote my books specifically for my own kids, to make them laugh, but now they’re all grown up,” he told Publishers Weekly. “It was a magical time but it’s over, just like childhood. It’s bittersweet but it’s also beautiful.”

→ Resources
Cat on the Run in Cat of Death!: How do you avoid capture and prove your innocence when you’re the most famous feline on the planet? Princess Beautiful finds out the hard way.
Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness: Social media star Princess Beautiful has been plunged into a world where danger lurks everywhere, and cucumbers are no laughing matter.
The Bad Guys: In Aaron’s wildly-popular book series, The Bad Guys, a motley collection of wannabe heroes are doing good deeds—whether you like it or not.

→ Highlights
Aaron Blabey, bestselling author and illustrator
On creating the character of Princess Beautiful in Cat on the Run: “She was inspired by the world we currently live in, I have to say. My kids are now 15 and 18, and I’ve been watching them navigating social media…. I’ve been watching with interest how that universe is sort of playing out in the world. I also have a really highly strung cat. Those two things . . . and the old movie The Fugitive, they all kind of clicked together in my head, and Cat on the Run popped out.”
On writing The Bad Guys: “I was only trying to make my son laugh, but it seems that the same stuff that makes him laugh has made lots of other kids laugh.”
On writing graphic novels: “We live in a world where kids are just bombarded with visual information, and they’re so visually literate. What I’ve tried to do with The Bad Guys and also certainly with Cat on the Run is do something that feels relevant for them.”
→ Special Thanks
Producer: Maxine Osa
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

→ Coming Soon

Alice Hoffman: When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary

A joint venture between Reach Out and Read and Scholastic, with help from several other publishers, the 35 for 35 project will distribute 350,000 free books to children ages five and under during their well-child visits.

The books celebrate the vibrant neighborhoods and diverse cultures of the children who are served by Reach Out and Read. Kids will be introduced to titles by acclaimed and emerging authors and illustrators, including poet Nikki Giovanni, basketball great LeBron James, and writer and educator Joanna Ho.

“Evidence shows that if children are exposed to books and reading through their pediatric well-child visits,” Marty says, “they’re more likely to get read to at home. They’re more likely to spend time with their parents or caregivers connecting over a book.”
As Chief Executive Officer of Reach Out and Read, Marty leads the Boston-based nonprofit’s vast network, which includes more than 6,000 program sites in all 50 states and nearly 30 regional, state, and local affiliates. He has spent decades working on behalf of young people and families in underserved communities across the Boston area. Most recently, as the city’s Chief of Health and Human Services, Marty led Boston through some of the most acute challenges posed by the pandemic.

In her role as Chief Impact Officer at Scholastic, Judy helps to ensure equal access to books and literacy for all children through partnerships with nonprofits and other organizations. She currently serves on several boards, including at Reach Out and Read and the Ruby Bridges Foundation, where she is Board President.

For many years, Judy led the iconic Scholastic Reading Club, aka the Book Clubs. She is known fondly in the office as our Reader-in-Chief. During the pandemic, Judy went back to school, earning a master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

→ Resources
Reach Out and Read: For 35 years, the Boston-based nonprofit has helped millions of young families across the country access literacy through well-child visits.
35 for 35: Learn more about this free, curated book collection, a collaboration between Reach Out and Read and Scholastic.

→ Highlights
Marty Martinez, CEO, Reach Out and Read
“The mission of Reach Out and Read is to provide opportunities and moments for children and their parents to have shared moments of connection and bonding through reading.”
“We’re a very simple model that integrates early literacy and books into well-child visits for our children five and under all across the United States.”
“A child learns to read and then reads to learn.”
“It opens doors not only for a child but for a whole family when you focus on early literacy.”
Judy Newman, Chief Impact Officer, Scholastic
“Programs like these don’t happen unless someone leads the charge.”
“Twelve publishers from across the publishing industry contributed titles to [35 for 35].”

“For American democracy to continue, we have to have literacy.”

→ Special Thanks
Producer: Maxine Osa
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

→ Coming Soon

Bad Guys Author Aaron Blabey Talks About Cat on the Run

When We Flew Away: Author Alice Hoffman Discusses Her New Novel About Anne Frank Before the Diary

“I would encourage any teen picking up A Darker Mischief,” Derek says, “to see how Cal can surmount everything that has happened in the past and his sense of unbelonging and intense alienation to find love.”

In addition to A Darker Mischief, Derek is the author of the acclaimed Scream All Night (Balzer + Bray, 2018) and Swipe Right for Murder (Jimmy Patterson, 2021). A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Derek has performed on stages across the country and appeared in several TV shows and films, including The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).

→ Resources
A Darker Mischief: Check out Derek Milman’s boarding school thriller about a queer teen named Cal, who finds himself swept up into a world of old money and privilege privilege.
You Are Loved: This curated book list from Scholastic celebrates LGBTQIA+ themes and experiences, with stories centered around identity, acceptance, and love.

→ Highlights
Derek Milman, author, A Darker Mischief
“While the secret society [in A Darker Mischief] is based on this very real secret society that’s still functioning at Yale, it’s fictional at the same time.”
“Cal comes from a poor family from a small town in Mississippi, and he has to contend with a lot and confront moral choices, in terms of how he can survive at Essex.”
“There are going to be things in life that you have to confront and decisions you’re going to have to make in order to get ahead, but you’re going to have to find a way to preserve who you really are and your values.”
“Holden [Caulfield in A Catcher in the Rye] might have been the first time I felt like I really connected with a kid in a book.”

“A lot of young love, especially young, gay love, is not easy.”

“Queer teens need a classic, sweeping, epic romance.”

→ Special Thanks
Producer: Maxine Osa
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

→ Coming Soon

Reach Out and Read: 35 for 35

Kelly Yang Has the Scoop on Top Story

Dr. Mayes is also the Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center and Special Advisor to the Dean at the Yale School of Medicine. She heads the Child Study Center–Scholastic Collaborative, which arose from a shared commitment to exploring how literacy can be used to foster resilience among children and families.

→ Resources
New Mental Health Resource From Scholastic: Check out our new online hub of books and curated, free resources fostering emotional health with insights from leading child development experts.
Meet Dr. Linda C. Mayes: The director of the Yale Child Study Center, Dr. Mayes is an expert in developmental psychology, pediatrics, and child psychiatry literature.
Kids & Family Reading Report: There’s lots to explore in Scholastic’s biennial national survey of parents’ and children’s reading attitudes and behaviors.
Reach Out and Read: Learn how the nonprofit organization partners with pediatric care providers to help families make reading a part of their routines.

→ The Conversation
What trends are you seeing at the Yale Child Study Center in terms of children’s mental health? What types of emotional and behavioral disorders are kids presenting?
At the Child Study Center here in New Haven, what we’re seeing is no different than what’s being seen across the country and around the world. The increase in mental health needs among children and adolescents often is framed as a post-COVID phenomenon. But over the past few years, there’s been a steady increase in children’s mental health needs—depression, suicidality, anxiety, increased feelings of stress—that speaks to an overall stress among children and families.
COVID and the pandemic added to the mental health crisis. The pandemic also highlighted some of the fragilities in our healthcare system. One might think in the same way, that the pandemic highlighted the mental health needs and vulnerabilities of our youngest citizens, and that we’re seeing an increased volume is important to know. We’re also seeing an increase in severity. Children are just suffering more, and we’re seeing children thinking about suicide at an earlier age. We’re seeing more eating disorders starting at an earlier age.
Our children’s distress is also an expression of the increasing distress and fragmentation of our society. Children, in a sense, are like the canaries in the coal mine. They’re experiencing the distress, the increased lack of civility, the increased fragmentation.

The lack of civility and lack of empathy among adults is striking. Where did that come from?
I think there are multiple causes. We’ve had an economically stressed society. We have the stresses of the pandemic. We have a politically divided society now. Whatever side of the aisle you’re on, to use that metaphor, it’s very hard to cross the aisle. We’ve lost the ability to have a conversation where you see the other person as an individual who may or may not agree with you, but who is still an individual worthy of respect. How to do that is a fundamental skill. It’s the glue that holds society together. When children see and feel and experience that kind of fracturing, it’s not good for their—or anyone’s—mental health.

What signs should parents and educators look for if they think a child needs clinical intervention?
When children are just not themselves, when they’ve changed, when they might have been the outgoing, playful, always-helping child who now is quiet, maybe even a little bit irritable, when there’s a real change in who they are in their presentation. Typically, people talk about when grades start to go down. That’s another indicator. When kids start to lose their enjoyment for the things they dearly loved. If they love to read, for example, but they stop reading. Or they love to play with friends, but now they just want to stay in the house. Those kinds of changes in behavior are important to notice. It’s not always the child who’s sad and withdrawn. It can be the child who suddenly is acting out or the child who is now afraid of a whole number of things. Those kinds of changes, and especially parents who know their children well, when they see that they’re just not themselves, that’s what to pay attention to.

If a child is withdrawn, they may not want to speak. Are there ways to spur conversation without asking repeated questions?
One of the most important ways is to be present. Sometimes, it may be taking a walk, or reading a book together, or just doing something together. Silence can be quite deafening. In our busy lives, families don’t often have those moments, those dinner-together moments, or those quiet walk-after-dinner together moments, or those times just sitting on the steps and talking. Those are the kinds of moments that bring people together. A child may not start talking right then. They may need to have a bit of quiet reassurance that, yes, somebody is going to be there, and they’re going to be listening.

Many areas in the U.S. have a shortage of mental health professionals. What is being done to make treatment more accessible and more effective?
There’s a shortage of healthcare professionals broadly, and there’s a shortage of healthcare professionals around children’s needs broadly. That includes physicians, pediatricians, psychologists, and social workers, because mental health for children is delivered not just by one profession.
Before addressing what is being done and what can be done, we need to ask the question of why. Why is there a shortage of healthcare providers, especially post-COVID, but why is there especially a shortage of mental health providers? There are a few reasons that we, as a society, need to look at very deeply. One of them is how we think about mental health. We often think about it as “the other,” that it’s not a part of overall health, that it’s not a part of physical health. The division between physical and mental health is an artificial one. They go together.
Another why is the stigma about mental health. As much as we’ve tried to work on it, it’s still alive and well in this country. It still impacts policy and decisions that people make about going into the field. It affects how we reimburse and support mental health, especially children’s mental health. Generally, children’s health is reimbursed less. By reimbursement, I mean by commercial payers and the individuals or institutions that pay for care. Then you take children’s mental health care and it’s not on par with other kinds of care. It’s very hard [for a health care professional] to make a wage that would support themselves and their family after years of training. So, we have a reimbursement structure that also perpetuates the bias.
As a country, we need to put that front and center because the other things we can do to improve access or care will be great and are great. During the pandemic, we learned a lot about the delivery of telehealth. We learned how to deliver mental health care across virtual platforms, making it available to children and families across state lines, from rural to urban, extending the capacity of a clinician in an urban area. We still need to increase broadband access in rural areas, and states need to work together so that clinicians can deliver care across state lines.
We’ve also learned that some children need just a few sessions with a mental health care provider. Some even respond to one or two sessions. Thinking more creatively about how we deliver services across telehealth platforms will improve access dramatically. We’re in a revolutionary time for mental health care for kids.

Can you describe the mechanisms by which literacy can lead to improved physical and mental health outcomes?
How does literacy impact health? It opens the world. You learn what a variety of people do. You also learn about your body. You learn how it works, what’s good and not good. Reading—including storytelling—is stress-relieving. Reading has dropped blood pressure to a healthy level in some studies. It’s what we call emotionally organizing.
Reading also brings people together. If you’ve read a good book, you tell a friend about it, and soon the two of you are talking about that book. The same is true if a child brings you a book and wants you to read it. Reading builds interpersonal links between parent and child or teacher and child. It’s a very strong glue for building relationships. And we know from research that relationships and social connectedness have as strong an impact on health as good nutrition and not smoking, for example.
So, it’s through those areas, and then another, what we would call a meta or proxy variable: If you’re more literate, you’re more educated. If you’re more educated, you know how to access health resources better. You make better choices. Yet we have two systems—our healthcare system and our educational system. The two don’t always work together. What’s good for kids in this country is to bring health and education together.

There’s a significant finding in Scholastic’s latest Kids & Family Reading Report that reinforces this notion. Kids who read more reported better mental health overall, with fewer occurrences of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
Yes, and that’s a very important finding. As a researcher, though, I need to warn that it’s associative and not necessarily causal. It may be that children who have better mental health read more and by reading more, they feel better.

The report also found that 41% of students get most of their books at school, which highlights the importance of teacher curation and accessibility. Are you and other experts seeing adverse effects on children due to book banning?
I deeply worry for our society because of book banning. In my world, the medical world, we talk about symptoms that are the danger signs of something more serious. A very high fever, for example, or very high blood pressure, or a very low white blood cell count, indicates that something serious is going on in that individual. I see book banning as one of those indicators of something serious going on in our society, what we talked about earlier, the fractionated society.
I can certainly talk about book banning and children, but I think we also need to think about what it says diagnostically about our social fabric. That said, there are no empirical studies about book banning that I know of, but it’s just common sense. You don’t limit a child’s curiosity. You don’t say to them, “You shouldn’t read this. This book has principles that aren’t good for you.” Let them read it and have an open discussion. Let them watch a television program, watch it with them, and have an open discussion. When you ban a book, you’re saying that certain forms of knowledge and experience are off-limits. That is just fundamentally against learning, building curiosity, building an ability to engage with the world in any way.
I do realize that my stance is from a particularly liberal point of view. I’m very aware of that. At the same time, I know what’s good for children and I know what’s good for children’s learning, and I know that inhibiting or prohibiting pathways to learning in any way is not good for children’s cognitive development.

What measures among key stakeholders are being taken to improve literacy outcomes for children, even starting with preschoolers?
I would say even starting with infancy and prenatally. I think one of the fundamental messages, if you want to go back even further, is that talking, storytelling, building relationships, using words, is a fundamental literacy skill. So, a mom or a couple who are pregnant: Talk to the baby inside the mom’s tummy. Build up a repertoire of stories, and when that baby comes, you’ll have the repertoire of stories. When you have your infant in your arms, talk to them about the world around them. Tell them stories about yourself. Tell them stories about what just happened during the day. Tell them about the sun and the rain outside. You’re building literacy when you do that. Literacy doesn’t have to just be by books, by just using words and creating a narrative.
That said, while we certainly need more pediatricians in this country, and more access to children’s special healthcare, we miss an opportunity in the healthcare world, and this gets back to bringing education and health together. We miss an opportunity to not use pediatricians even more than Reach Out and Read already does. We should use pediatricians as the conduit for literacy and the conduit for books because pediatricians are the individuals or healthcare professionals are the individuals that children see before they are of school age.
But it’s not just putting books in children’s hands, it’s also having adults know how to use those books. It’s not just reading the words, but helping the child think about what else could have happened in a story. The blue bear did this with his friend, the goose, but what else could bear have done? Or what was goose thinking about? Why do you think goose did that? To really help children expand that narrative and to engage with them around building out the story, not just literally reading the story. In doing that, you’re encouraging their imagination. The most fundamental way to build literacy is to build narrative and storytelling.

Many teachers are encountering not just mental and emotional challenges among students, but also behavioral issues to an extent they haven’t seen before. What advice do you have for educators who are feeling overwhelmed and don’t have the resources to address this rise in students’ mental health needs?
There are three things I would say to teachers. One is that, besides parents, you have the hardest and most responsible job in our society. You’re taking care of and launching our next generation. I deeply appreciate not only the work that all teachers do, but also the stress that teachers are under and the burdens they feel.
I also would say is that if you can hold in mind, and it’s incredibly hard to do, when a child is melting down in front of you or angrily yelling or out of control, that all behavior is a communication, and then take just a little space inside yourself to wonder what is this child trying to tell me? What are they trying to say with this behavior? Maybe the child won’t know, but you’ll know that they’re communicating something through their behavior. Maybe they’re trying to say that they’re scared. Maybe they’re trying to say that they’re exhausted. Maybe they’re trying to say that they need you or they need someone more, but they’re trying to say something. It’s a really hard thing to do in the moment, but it’s extraordinarily important.
Behavioral disruptions are happening across the country at all ages. It’s not just kids in classrooms. We’re seeing adults lose it in various settings. When children cause behavioral disruptions, the preschool phrase is often, “Use your words.” Preschool teachers know that if you can get the behavior into words, you can help.
The third thing I would offer to teachers is, if you can, have a peer or someone else you can talk to. You have your own mental health needs that shouldn’t go unheard.

Guns are now the leading cause of death among children and teens. Do we know the psychological and social impact of community violence, mass shootings, and even active shooter drills in schools?
I have many colleagues who think a lot about this and who are much more expert in it than I. For example, here at the Child Study Center, we have our Child Development-Community Policing Program. My colleagues Steven Marans and Carrie Epstein and the rest of their team, Megan Goslin, are often called to consult and help teachers, and they do that in such a clinically skilled and sensitive way.
We have an enormous availability of guns in this country and a history of guns being used to express a range of distress and feelings. The corollary is that it has happened so often, we’re numbed by it. A staggering number of mass shootings have happened in this country, defined as four or more injured. Some of them don’t even make the news at this point.
What’s the effect on children? Broadly, school is no longer as safe a place as it once was. What do active shooter drills do? As a researcher, I would want to know more about that, but I’m guessing it makes children more scared. I’m guessing it raises the anxiety level of teachers, too. Whether they’re effective for that event, may it never happen, is another question. I’ve often heard people compare active shooter drills to back when the threat of nuclear war began. Schools had drills, and kids were asked to get under their desks. If you look back on it, it looks kind of crazy.
My worry about active shooter drills is, not just are they effective, not just do they raise teachers’ anxiety and children’s anxiety, but my worry is that we may be putting our attention in the wrong place. We’re putting our attention on the possibility that this terrible thing might happen. Really, our attention should be on why? Why is it happening more frequently? Why is it that we can’t look at the harsh truth of the availability of guns? Why can we not look at other societies experiencing the same broad global stress that don’t have these kinds of mass shootings? Ask those questions.

Researchers at the Yale Child Study Center-Scholastic Collaborative have identified altruism as a hallmark of resilience. How can altruism play a role in helping children and communities emerge stronger after a traumatic event?
It’s not just us. There’s a large body of work about altruism across several settings, altruism and prisoner of war situations, altruism during natural disasters. Altruism is a fundamentally human capacity. We also see it in some non-human primates, as well. It’s the ability to reach outside of yourself and think about the needs of others, to make some sacrifice of yourself in order to help someone else.
So, for example, in the darkest of situations, like in a prisoner of war situation, when you take your food ration and give it to the person next to you who you know is starving, although you yourself don’t have much. It’s the ability to reach out and make a connection to someone else, thinking outside yourself about someone else’s needs. You see it all the time in this country. When there’s a tragedy, you see people coming together in the most remarkably altruistic ways: firemen risking their own lives to bring a family to safety, families who have almost nothing bringing everything they have to the neighbor down the street whose house was wiped out by a tornado. It’s a basic human. We survive because we are a community.
So, what can we do more of? Talk about altruism. Highlight it. Altruism is good for your health. It’s a very ironic message, that by sacrificing yourself for someone else, you also are doing something good for yourself. You’re improving your own health and your own likelihood of a healthy outcome. But you don’t do it for that reason. You do it because of the basic human need to create community.

→ Special Thanks
Producer: Maxine Osa
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

→ Coming Soon
Top Story: Author Kelly Yang Talks With a Scholastic Kid Reporter

A Darker Mischief: Celebrate Pride Month With Author Derek Millman

→ Resources

7 reasons why your organization isn’t making DEI progress: Malia C. Lazu discusses common pitfalls in DEI implementation.
From Intention to Impact: Check out Malia’s book on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

→ Highlights
Lindsey Cotter, Chief Inclusion Officer, Scholastic Inc.
“How do we use DEI as a way to strengthen our ability to communicate and interact with one another, to have an awareness of the differences in culture, and be sure that the things that we’re doing from a business perspective as well as an interpersonal perspective are respectful of one another? That’s hard. It’s a journey. It’s not a destination.”
“My mother was a kindergarten teacher, and she colored in the characters in picture books. She did the same thing with cards because there was no representation.”
“This [work] is going to make a difference for girls coming up now, for women who are out there.”
Malia C. Lazu, author, From Intention to Impact: A Practical Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
“After [the murder of] George Floyd, so many people were asking us, ‘What can we do?’ What can we do?’ As a woman of color, as a woman of color firm, it was a frustrating question because we had been talking about what you could do for hundreds of years, long before I was born.”
“Being an ally is about deconstructing power and trying to keep doors and windows open [for others].”
“I’ve had clients look at me and say, ‘But we’re good people.’ I wish that were enough. If you set an intention to do something that you haven’t done before, you need to know that you probably don’t have the tools, skills, or understanding to do it, and you need to respect those blind spots in yourself.”

→ Special Thanks
Producer: Maxine Osa
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

→ Coming Soon

Kelly Yang Has the Scoop on Top Story

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Later in the episode, Shane Garver, associate vice president of rural education at Save the Children, explains why now—especially now—is the perfect time for kids to grab a book and get lost in a reading adventure. Shane also discusses Save the Children’s pivotal role in getting books into the hands of children in rural America through its partnership with Scholastic. Participants in the Scholastic Summer Reading program can be a part of that mission, helping to unlock a donation of 100,000 books with their reading minutes.

The Summer Reading program will be available through August 19. Students can sign up for stories, games, author events, and other free resources on Home Base.

Alex talks with host Suzanne McCabe about Melissa, which was originally published as George in 2015. The novel introduces young readers to a transgender girl who yearns to play the role of Charlotte in her school play. The book won a Lamda Literary Award and a Children’s Choice Book Award, among many other honors. It also was the most-banned book in the United States in 2020.

“As a trans person writing about another trans person, when Melissa’s story is challenged, someone is saying that my existence is too scary, too deviant, too monstrous, to show to children,” Alex says. “It hurts.”

Highlights:
“I didn’t figure out who I was until I was 19, [when] I found the word genderqueer in a book.”

“I have heard so many positive, wonderful stories of people who were able to figure who they were because they saw Melissa.”

“The book doesn’t make someone trans, but it gives tools for talking about it.”

“I love hearing from adults who say, ‘This is the book I wish I had when I was a kid.’”

“A character in a book can be real in the sense [that] they have thoughts. They have beliefs. You’re inside their mind in a way that you’re often not inside the minds of real people. If my book can help someone respect who’s in the world, that’s invaluable.”

“My book would not have been banned 20 years ago because my book wouldn’t have existed. Something needs to exist, and something needs to be recognized in order to be challenged.”

—Alex Gino, author, Melissa

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:
Summer Reading • Aaron Blabey and The Bad Guys • Because of You, John Lewis

Debbi is a third-generation Japanese American, who was born in raised in California. She now lives in Mystic, Connecticut, where her upcoming middle grade novel, Sweet and Sour, is set. She talks with host Suzanne McCabe about Sweet and Sour and the summer romance between characters Mai and Zach.

“All of my books star Japanese American main characters,” Debbi says. “It is such an honor to be able to write from my personal experience and background, but [also] to be able to focus on universal things like friendship and those first-crush feelings.”

Later, Gita talks about her upcoming picture book, My Bindi, illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan. “The bindi in Hindu culture is considered the third eye,” Gita explains. “It looks inward, and it symbolizes strength, your inner strength.”

Gita earned her master’s degree in literacy education at Teachers College at Columbia University. Born and raised in India, she developed a love of storytelling hearing her grandfather weave fantastical tales. She is currently an elementary school teacher in Princeton, New Jersey.

“Across racial lines, across socioeconomic status, folks were dealing with a lot during the pandemic,” Amanda says. “We realized that we needed to tend to our mental health and well-being. The acknowledgement has led to meaningful conversations among educators and parents about the needs of our children.”

Amanda is the Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic, and Jose is a clinical fellow in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. They are part of the Yale Child Study Center – Scholastic Collaborative, a partnership that arose from a shared commitment to exploring how literacy can be used to foster resilience among children and families.

Resources:
Advancing SEL: The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) provides resources to schools and statehouses to promote the understanding of SEL and SEL instruction.
Yale Child Study Center – Scholastic Collaborative: Learn how the Collaborative is developing ways to build child and family resilience.
SEL Resources: The editors of Scholastic Magazines+ have curated worksheets, letter-writing templates, and book recommendations for early-elementary and upper-elementary students.
Social and Emotional Learning Collections: Check out these book collections for primary and elementary school classrooms.

Highlights:
“Isn’t it important for all of us to be aware of ourselves, to be able to manage our emotions, to engage with others, and to make sound decisions?”
—Dr. Amanda Alexander, Chief Academic Officer, Scholastic

“The concept of literacy can also be translated into emotional literacy, helping kids put words to emotions. Books are a great avenue to do that.”
—Dr. Jose Paez, Clinical Fellow, Yale Child Study Center

“America is a democracy, and in a democracy, it’s important for citizens to be educated. We learn by reading books and forming our own opinions about matters and events in the past. That level of interpretation and judgment belongs to the reader as an individual in a democracy. The taking away of books, essentially, stops that process from happening.”
—Dr. Amanda Alexander, Chief Academic Officer, Scholastic

“I find myself talking about things such as race, gender identity, and sexual orientation a lot more openly and a lot more frequently during my sessions with children and parents alike.”
—Dr. Jose Paez, Clinical Fellow, Yale Child Study Center

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:
Celebrating AAPI Month With Authors Gita Varadarajan and Debbi Michiko Florence • Author Alex Gino Introduces Melissa • Summer Reading • Aaron Blabey and The Bad Guys

Holly and R.J. recently collaborated on a picture book, Charlie Makes a Splash! It tells the story of a boy with autism who finds calm and joy playing in water. In the back of the book, Holly shares insights and resources that have helped her family navigate autism.

Holly is the co-founder of the HollyRod Foundation with her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete. They started the nonprofit in 1997, after Holly’s father, Matt Robinson (the original Gordon on Sesame Street), was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The foundation provides help for families living with Parkinson’s and autism.

Holly is also the author of Same But Different and My Brother Charlie, which won an NAACP Image Award.

Special Thanks:

• Producer: Bridget Benjamin
• Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
• Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
• Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:

• Celebrating AAPI Month With Authors Gita Varadarajan and Debbi Michiko Florence
• Alex Gino Talks About Melissa
• Aaron Blabey and The Bad Guys

In this episode, we celebrate Women’s History Month and the power of women to transform our world, one stitch at a time. Host Suzanne McCabe talks with Scholastic Kid Reporter Camille Fallen, 13, about a recent interview she conducted with acclaimed textile artist Bisa Butler and Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, an educator and the author of the bestselling Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy.

Bisa’s textile portraits, which are inspired by black and white photographs that she collects, tell the story of both ordinary and notable Black Americans. She uses the medium of quilting to interrogate the historic marginalization of her subjects, while conveying the subjects’ complex individuality.

“My work is a recording of what life is like for me as a Black woman and the way I see things,” Bisa says. “By creating these portraits, I’m giving other people a window into how Black people see themselves. It’s an insider’s view of a community that is not always paid attention to, a community that has been mischaracterized deliberately, lied about, or ignored.”

Bisa, who had a solo show in 2020-’21 at the Art Institute of Chicago, will be honored this spring at the 60th Anniversary Benefit Gala of the American Folk Art Museum.

Bisa and Gholdy both approach their work as educators. Bisa is a former high school teacher, and Gholdy, an associate professor of language and literacy at Georgia State University, has served as a school district curriculum director and a middle school teacher. Camille, who lives in Virginia, is a member of the award-winning Scholastic Kids Press team.

Created by the nonprofit LitWorld and sponsored by Scholastic, World Read Aloud Day is celebrated in more than 173 countries. The annual event takes place this year on February 2. Participants are invited to grab a book, find an audience, and, yes, read aloud.

Research shows that reading aloud provides several benefits to children. It helps strengthen their cognitive development, improve their vocabulary, and increase their attention span. Best of all, it fosters joy. As one teacher told us: “My favorite part is when I look up and see ‘that look, that smile’ that tells me I’ve hooked one more reader who will fall in love with reading for a lifetime.”

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

What made de Regniers so sure that Clifford would win over young hearts? “That’s how kids feel,” she said. “They feel like, ‘I don’t belong here. I’m somebody odd in the crowd.’”

Since then, more than 160 Clifford titles have made their way into print. The books have been translated into more than 20 languages and sold more than 134 million copies. Along the way, TV series and video games have been created about the lovable character.

Now, Clifford is hitting the big screen in Clifford the Big Red Dog, a new movie from Paramount Pictures. The film, which is also available for streaming on Paramount+, is directed by Walt Becker and produced by Jordan Kerner and Iole Lucchese, who is Chief Strategy Officer at Scholastic and President of Scholastic Entertainment. Caitlin Friedman, SVP and General Manager of Scholastic Entertainment, serves as Executive Producer.

In the new film, Darby Camp stars as Emily Elizabeth, the little girl whose puppy magically grows to be 10 feet tall. She and her Uncle Casey, played by Jack Whitehall, must cope with Clifford’s somewhat unmanageable size in a New York City apartment.

The film also features John Cleese, as animal trainer Mr. Bridwell; Izaac Wang as Emily Elizabeth’s steadfast friend, Owen; and Tony Hale as Zack Tieran, the scheming villain of tech giant LyfeGrow. Kenan Thompson turns in a hilarious performance as Clifford’s baffled—and intimidated—veterinarian.

In this episode, Kerner talks with podcast host Suzanne McCabe about his role producing the movie. He explains the hopeful message that everyone’s favorite big red dog offers this holiday season and gives a behind-the-scenes look at filming in New York City, where the CGI-animated Clifford was represented by two talented puppeteers. Kerner has served as a producer on dozens of films for television and the big screen, including The Mighty Ducks, George of the Jungle, Charlotte’s Web, and The Smurfs. He is a former Dean of the School of Filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:
If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving

The girls get their first big break when they meet Sean “Mercury” Ellis, the undisputed king of R&B. But Merc has other ideas for them.

Tami, herself, is no stranger to the music scene. In her teens and early twenties, she tasted fame with an all-girl R&B group. She found her voice. But as the title of her book suggests, not everyone does. Muted amplifies the voices and the promise of Black and Brown girls, while painting a harrowing picture of the abuse and violence that many suffer in silence.

A former classroom teacher, Tami is also the author of The New York Times-bestselling picture book, All Because You Matter, which began as a love letter to her young son.

You may know Sonia as Maria, the beloved character she played on Sesame Street for more than 30 years. Growing up in a struggling Puerto Rican family in the 1950s, Sonia wondered how she could contribute to a society that didn’t see her. “I felt invisible,” she says. Her story of resilience and hope continues to inspire readers of all ages.

Host Suzanne McCabe also talks with Pam Muñoz Ryan, the award-winning author of Esperanza Rising and several other celebrated novels. Pam discusses the genesis of her latest book, an enchanting novel for middle-graders called Mañanaland. The mythical tale introduces readers to a brave boy named Max, who learns what it means to help people fleeing danger and persecution.

In the final segment, author Justin A. Reynolds and illustrator Pablo Leon introduce their new graphic novel, Miles Morales: Shock Waves. It is already a hit with young Marvel fans. “Maybe you’re not able to have web slingers and scale the city walls,” Justin tells kids, “but your voice can travel just as far.”

Ground Zero features nine-year-old Brandon, who finds himself in an elevator in the North Tower when an explosion jolts him and the other passengers sideways. His father is working at Windows on the World, a restaurant that occupies one of the top floors of the building.

The novel also introduces readers to Reshmina, an 11-year-old Afghan girl who, in 2019, is living with her family in a remote, mountainous region of the country, where U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers are battling the Taliban.
“Afghans did not do this attack,” Reshmina says to a U.S. soldier when he recalls 9/11. “You are seeking revenge against the wrong people.”

In Ground Zero, Alan deftly explores the parallels between Brandon and Reshmina’s lives, and shows why we, as a country, need to ask tough questions about our actions, both past and present. Alan is the New York Times best-selling author of Refugee, Allies, and Code of Honor, among several other titles.

Resources:
Meet Alan Gratz: In his latest middle-grade novel, the best-selling author of 17 titles for young readers spotlights the September 11 attacks.

Encountering History: In this webinar, Scholastic Magazines+ editors and a classroom teacher offer ways to address the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with upper-elementary students.

Resources for Teaching 9/11 for Grades 3 - 12: Articles, videos, and lesson plans from the editors of Scholastic Magazines+ help teachers discuss the 9/11 attacks in the classroom.

Anniversary in the Schools Webinar: Join students and teachers from around the world to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11 by registering for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s free Anniversary in the Schools program.

“Empty Sky”: Read a 2011 essay recalling the 9/11 attacks in Lower Manhattan by Scholastic Reads host Suzanne McCabe.

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:
Honoring Hispanic Heritage
A Conversation With Muted Author Tami Charles

In this episode, Lauren Tarshis, who is Senior Vice President, Editor-in-Chief, and Publisher of Scholastic Magazines, as well as the author of the best-selling I Survived series, talks with host Suzanne McCabe about “Back to School, Back Together.” The site was designed, Lauren says, “to help teachers feel fortified, optimistic, ready.”

Three teachers, Janine Hsieh, Shaniqua Ashby, and Chrissy Casey, also join Suzanne to talk about  ClassroomsCount™, a platform that Scholastic recently launched to help educators in communities around the country raise funds for books and resources for their students.

Resources:
Back to School, Back Together: SEL resources and expert insights from the Yale Child Study Center + Scholastic Collaborative to help educators and students heading back to the classroom.

ClassroomsCount™: Learn how educators can raise funds to purchase books and resources from Book Clubs, The Teacher Store, The Scholastic Store, and Scholastic Magazines+.

A Lending Library With Love: Teacher Chrissy Casey, who is featured in this episode, helps promote a love of reading among kids of all ages in the Malvern, Pennsylvania, area.

Bringing Books to Kids: Find out more about Casey’s Book Mobile and her ClassroomsCount™ fundraiser.

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan

The Scholastic Summer Reading program was designed to help meet this need. The free, annual initiative keeps kids motivated to read all summer long, while expanding access to books. The program hosts virtual author events, provides e-books, and empowers kids to unlock a donation of 100,000 print books from Scholastic that are distributed in rural communities by Save the Children.

In this episode, host Suzanne McCabe talks with Lizette Serrano and Dr. Sayantani DasGupta about the Scholastic Summer Reading program and how kids can enjoy all of the free resources on Scholastic Home Base. Lizette is the vice president of educational marketing and event planning at Scholastic. She has a wealth of experience motivating kids to read for pleasure—not just in the summer months, but all year long.

Sayantani, who is a pediatrician by training, is the New York Times-bestselling author of Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond, a wildly-popular middle-grade fantasy series. Her latest book, a stand-alone novel from The Kingdom Beyond, is called Force of Fire. She teaches at Columbia University in the Graduate Program in Narrative Medicine, the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, and the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.

“If there’s ever been a time that all of us—young readers, teenage readers, adult readers—need the healing power of story, it’s this summer,” Sayantani says. “There is so much loss and confusion and anguish that we’ve all been through.”

Resources:
Scholastic Summer Reading: Gain access to a fun, free, and safe program for kids.

Check out Home Base, a free 3D interactive world that celebrates favorite stories through book-based games, live author events, and a community of readers.

Learn more about New York Times-bestselling author Sayantani DasGupta.

**Special Thanks:

• **Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl
• Producer: Bridget Benjamin
• Associate Producer: Connie Gibbs
• Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan

Leah’s best-selling debut novel, You Should See Me in a Crown, is a 2021 Stonewall Honor Book and was the inaugural YA pick for Reese’s Book Club. Leah dedicates Rise to the Sun “to the Black girls who have been told they’re too much and to the ones who don’t believe they’re enough.”

Molly describes The Girl From the Sea, a graphic novel about first love, as “absolutely the most self-indulgent book I've ever done, [with] a lot of delicious wish fulfillment.” It debuted on the Amazon YA bestseller list. Molly’s 2017 graphic novel, The Witch Boy, is being adapted into a feature film by Netflix.

Rise to the Sun and The Girl From the Sea are both included in Shondaland’s Summer 2021 Reading List.

Resources:

• Leah Johnson writes things: Learn more about this Midwestern author, essayist, and pop culture whiz.
  
• Molly Knox Ostertag: Delve into Molly’s comics, art, & animation.
• Read With Pride: Check out these essential LGBTQIA+ titles for young readers.

Special Thanks:

• Producer: Bridget Benjamin
• Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
• Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
• Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:

• Diving Into Summer Reading
• Inside the Music Biz with Tami Charles

Kelly also describes the struggles that she faced immigrating to the U.S. with her parents when she was a child. “You don’t have to strip away everything about yourself to conform,” she says. “That was a hard lesson for me growing up because there were definitely times I felt that pressure.”

Later in the episode, Dr. Don Vu, an educator with more than two decades of experience in the classroom, talks about his new book, Life, Literacy, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Supporting Our Immigrant and Refugee Children Through the Power of Reading.

Educators and parents will want to hear Dr. Vu’s incredible insights into helping young students thrive as readers, writers, and learners. He also tells the moving story of his own family’s escape from Vietnam in 1975, when the city of Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces. Dr. Vu’s experiences as a refugee growing up in California helped him develop empathy for families much like his, who arrive in America with little more than a dream.

Resources:
Front Desk: Learn more about author Kelly Yang and her books for young people.
Life, Literacy, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Learn more about Dr. Don Vu and his new title for educators.
19 Books by Asian & Pacific Islander Americans to Read All Year: Here are lots of great titles to share with the young readers in your life.

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:
Celebrating Pride Month with authors Leah Johnson and Molly Knox Ostertag

Inside the music biz with authors Tami Charles and Lamar Giles

The magazines, which reach more than 25 million students and their teachers, have been a staple in classrooms for more than a century. In this episode, Lauren tells host Suzanne McCabe how a talented team of writers, editors, designers, video producers, and IT experts have helped support educators and keep students engaged and learning this past year—even though many classrooms have been empty.

Lauren is also the author of the best-selling I Survived book series, which recounts terrifying and thrilling stories from history through the eyes of a child who lived to tell the tale.

Later in the episode, Scholastic Kid Reporter Siroos recounts his journalistic experiences during the pandemic. Siroos, who is 12 years old and lives in New York City, is a member of Scholastic Kids Press, a team of 45 young journalists from around the world who report “news for kids, by kids” on our websites and in our Classroom Magazines.

Resources:
From Fear to Hope: Author Lauren Tarshis tells young readers how the polio epidemic affected her grandmother’s generation and finds similarities to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Killer Flu of 1918: Young readers learn about the powerful flu that claimed millions of lives and disrupted everyday life.

Science World Magazine’s COVID-19 News Hub: Young readers can get updates on the virus and vaccines here.

NEW: Filled with music and special sound effects, this audio feature brings students into the action of the story and boosts their reading and listening skills. Try it for free here.

Scholastic Classroom Magazines: Reserve your magazines for the fall now, and get free online access.

Meet Lauren Tarshis: Learn more about Lauren and I Survived, her best-selling book series for kids.

Scholastic Kids Press: Check out recent articles by our Scholastic Kid Reporters. If you know a 10- to 14-year-old with a nose for news, encourage them to apply to Kids Press. Applications must be received by June 1. Learn more here.

Scholastic Kid Reporter Siroos Pasdar: Read Siroos’s news articles for our young readers.

Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl

Coming Soon:
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with author Kelly Yang and educator Don Vu

Inside the music biz with authors Tami Charles and Lamar Giles

First, host Suzanne McCabe talks with Rebecca Siegel, the author of To Fly Among the Stars: The Hidden Story of the Fight for Women Astronauts. Rebecca describes the early years of America’s space program, when 13 brave women trained in a secret, privately-funded program, hoping to earn their spot among the stars. These accomplished air racers, test pilots, and flight instructors later lobbied the White House and Congress to have women included in the astronaut program. Rebecca’s riveting tale about Jerrie Cobb, Janey Hart, and 11 other women serves as an inspiration for any girl who doubts that she can achieve whatever she sets her mind to.

Suzanne also talks with Dr. Ronke Olabisi, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of California, Irvine. She tells listeners about her childhood dream of becoming an astronaut and how that led to her career as a biomedical engineer and inventor.

Special Thanks:
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate Producer: Constance Gibs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan

Coming Soon:
Honoring the Asian American Experience with Kelly Yang
Music in Literature: Tami Charles and Lamar Giles

Varian has written several critically-acclaimed novels, including The Great Greene Heist and The Parker Inheritance, which was named a Coretta Scott King Honor Book in 2019. He and Shannon describe the experience of creating their first graphic novel together and why they think Twins is such a hit with young readers.

Resources:
The Power of Story: Diverse Books for All Readers

13 Black-Owned Bookstores to Know About

Learn More About Author Varian Johnson

Learn More About Illustrator Shannon Wright

Special Thanks:
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate Producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound Engineer: Daniel Jordan

Coming Soon:
Women and STEM

For the past decade, Scholastic has been the title sponsor of World Read Aloud Day, which was created by LitWorld, a global non-profit that fosters a love of reading in children everywhere.

In this episode, host Suzanne McCabe talks with literacy expert and author Pam Allyn, who is the founder of LitWorld. She'll share ideas for educators and families who would like to participate in this year's celebration, which takes place on February 3.
Malcolm Mitchell will describe his own reading journey. “I was a 19-, 20-year-old college student whom the world praised for my ability to catch a pass,” he says. “But in the bookstore, I was buying The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Exclamation Mark, and The Giving Tree to help teach myself how to become more literate.”
Malcolm is now the best-selling author of The Magician's Hat and My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World. His Share The Magic Foundation helps transform young lives through literacy. In his past life, Malcolm was a star wide receiver for the New England Patriots. He has a Super Bowl ring to prove it!

Special Thanks:
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan

Coming Soon:
Coretta Scott King Honor Author Varian Johnson Talks About Twins, His Graphic Novel

**Special Thanks:
**Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan

**Coming Soon:
**A Celebration of Black History

Kids have grown-up with, and obsessed over Clifford the Big Red Dog, Goosebumps, The Baby-Sitters Club, Harry Potter, and Captain Underpants. Stories by Suzanne Collins, the late Walter Dean Myers, Raina Telgemeier, Pam Muñoz Ryan, and Kelly Yang, to name a few, still captivate young readers. Scholastic News and Junior Scholastic are still staples in classrooms across the country, and Scholastic Kid Reporters are still out there getting stories that matter to them and their young readers.
Last, but not least, young people still receive coveted Scholastic Art & Writing Awards each year, as they have done for nearly a century. Past recipients include Andy Warhol, Bernard Malamud, Kay WalkingStick and Mozelle Thompson. The list goes on, but we wanted to hear from Dick about his memories of his father, the early years at the company, and how he has remained true to his father's vision, that few things are more magical than children discovering themselves in the pages of a book.

Then Francisco Stork, the author of such acclaimed YA titles as The Memory of Light and Marcelo in the Real World, talks about his latest novel, Illegal. This page-turning thriller follows Sara Zapata and her brother, Emiliano, and their desperate escape from Mexico to the U.S. Illegal is a sequel to Francisco’s earlier novel, Disappeared.

You can learn more about Land of the Cranes, Illegal, and all of our latest fiction and nonfiction at scholastic.com/kids. For a catalog of diverse books for readers of all ages, click here.
To check out the Scholastic Student Vote, a virtual mock-election that has been running since 1940, visit scholastic.com/election.

We wanted to give you a preview of the books you can look forward to, so we invited some of our authors to read aloud. First, Tami Charles reads All Because You Matter, her love letter to Black and brown children. (2:31)

Next, Christina Soontornvat takes us inside the pages of Icing on the Snowflake, the latest title in her popular chapter book series, Diary of an Ice Princess. Christina’s adventures for elementary school readers start with a simple premise: What if Frozen’s Elsa went to regular school? If you have any Elsa fans in your house, this is the series for them! (6:41)

We also hear from Brazilian author Vitor Martins. He shares an excerpt from his new queer romance, Here the Whole Time. This story about the magic of first love explores the insecurities that many teens feel around body image. (11:12)

Then, Kara McDowell reads from her new novel for young adults, One Way or Another. It’s a poignant story about a girl who learns to face her debilitating anxieties as she navigates a relationship with her best friend and longtime crush. (17:55)

For 8- to 12-year-olds who enjoy horror and spooky mysteries, Daka Hermon reads from her suspense-filled debut, Hide and Seeker. (25:39)

Last but not least, middle-grade favorite Kelly Yang reads the opening pages of Three Keys, the highly-anticipated sequel to her debut best-seller, Front Desk. (31:52)

You can learn more about these titles and all of our latest fiction and nonfiction at scholastic.com/kids.

To check out the Scholastic Student Vote, a virtual mock-election, that has been running since 1940 visit scholastic.com/election.

Special thanks:

Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Mackenzie Cutruzzula
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan

We also spotlight author Ann M. Martin, who created the beloved book series. Host Suzanne McCabe spoke with Ann in 2016, amid celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the best-selling series, which began in 1986 with the publication of Kristy’s Great Idea.

You can learn more about The Baby-Sitters Club book series, including the graphic novels, here and the Netflix TV show here.

Special thanks:

Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Mackenzie Cutruzzula
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan

Ruby’s courageous journey helped pave the way for Black and brown students across the United States to gain access to educational opportunities that had been denied to them for centuries.

Sixty years later, “Black Lives Matter” has become a rallying cry for an end to the systemic racism that continues to harm African Americans nationwide. Ruby is still speaking out and still speaking up. In 1995, she created the Ruby Bridges Foundation, which is dedicated to fostering respect and equality for people of all races and backgrounds. She talks with children everywhere about the disease of racism, which she says is “a disease of the heart.”

In this episode, Ruby talks with host Suzanne McCabe about the events that led her parents to risk the hostility of segregationists for a better life and how her story can help today’s young people bring about lasting change and equality.

To learn more about the Ruby Bridges Foundation, go to rubybridges.com, and follow Ruby on Instagram at @RubyBridgesOfficial.

If you’d like to share Ruby’s story with your students, you can order her 1999 memoir, Through My Eyes, here. Click here to access the Power of Story, a catalog of diverse books for readers of all ages.

Special thanks:
Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
Produced by Bridget Benjamin
Associate produced by Mackenzie Cutruzzula
Sound mix, editing and recording by Colin Poellot

As a queer, Black teen in a prom-obsessed Midwestern town, Liz thinks that it’s impossible to fit in. But when she meets the new girl at school—who is also her competition for prom queen—everything changes.

In this episode, Leah talks with host Suzanne McCabe about growing up in Indiana, becoming a fiction writer, and “giving queer folks the happy ending they deserve.”

Learn more about Leah and You Should See Me in a Crown.

Special thanks:
Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
Produced by Bridget Benjamin
Associate produced and edited by Mackenzie Cutruzzula
Sound mix and recording by Daniel Jordan

• Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
• Produced by Bridget Benjamin
• Associate produced and edited by Mackenzie Cutruzzula
• Sound mix and recording by Daniel Jordan

Additional Resources:
Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words exhibit features rarely seen materials that offer an intimate view of Rosa Parks and documents in her life and activism.

Special thanks:
Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
Produced and edited by Bridget Benjamin
Associate produced by Mackenzie Cutruzzula
Sound mix and recording by Daniel Jordan

Plus, you’ll hear exciting read alouds from authors like, Dav Pilkey, Carmen Agra Deedy, and Peter Reynolds. Don’t forget to read aloud on February 5!

Special thanks:

• Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
• Produced and edited by Bridget Benjamin
• Associate Produced by Mackenzie Cutruzzula
• Sound mix and recording by Daniel Jordan
• *Suzanne McCabe is the Editor of Scholastic Kids Press

The memoir, which has been longlisted for the National Book Award, follows Jarrett's childhood: His mother was a heroin addict who was in and out of rehab, so he was raised by his grandparents — loud, opinionated, but loving people who struggled with their own demons. In the midst of it all, he found art. 

We also hear from Kim Tranell, executive editor, Scholastic Classroom Magazines, about ways she has covered topics of addiction—specifically, the opioid crisis—in Choices magazine for teen readers.

If you're planning to share this episode with young listeners, please note that it includes some mature themes, including drug use.

Guests:

• Jarrett J. Krosoczka is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator who has published dozens of books, including the Lunch Lady graphic novels, the Platypus Police Squad middle grade novels, and arcs in the Star Wars: Jedi Academy series. He was first published when he was only twenty-three years old. Jarrett's TED Talk about his childhood has been viewed over a million times and can be found on his website, www.studiojjk.com.
• Kim Tranell is an executive editor of Scholastic Classroom Magazines overseeing Scholastic Action and Choices.

Additional resources:

• Learn more about Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
• Read the profile of Jarrett J. Krosoczka in The New York Times 
• Learn more about Jarrett J. Krosoczka's other work
• Learn more about Choices magazine
• Learn more about Scholastic Classroom Magazines

Special thanks:

• Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
• Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan and Christopher Johnson
• Produced by Emily Morrow

To celebrate the 20th anniversary, we're hosting a series of special episodes. Over the next few weeks, we'll talk with some of the extraordinary illustrators behind the stories, as well as Scholastic employees who were with Harry from the very beginning. 

But first, we're going to talk about the fandom. This week, you'll hear from fans themselves about what Harry Potter means to them. You'll also hear from two librarians who are bringing the books to new generations of readers every day. 

Additional resources:

• Listen to part 2: The Artists of Harry Potter
• Listen to part 3: The Making of Harry Potter
• Watch our special video commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Harry Potter series in the U.S.
• Learn more about the 20th anniversary editions of the Harry Potter series with cover art by Brian Selznick

Guests:

• Eti Berland is a youth and teen services librarian at Lincolnwood Public Library in Illinois.
• Robin Brenner is the teen librarian at the Public Library of Brookline in Massachusetts.

Special thanks:

• Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
• Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan and Christopher Johnson
• Produced by Emily Morrow

Know a kid with a nose for news? The Scholastic News Kids Press Corps is accepting applications through May 31, 2018. Find out more details and apply here!

Additional resources:

• Learn more about the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps
• Read recent stories by Kid Reporters
• Read Amelia Poor's stories
• Read Rohan Saketh Devulapalli's stories
• Read Owen Osborne's stories
• Read Lilian Jochmann's stories
• Read Nolan Pastore's stories
• Read Helen Hong's stories
• Read Ryan Stoltz's stories
• Apply to join the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps

Guests: 

• Amelia Poor is a 12-year-old member of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps from New York. Amelia joined the Kids Press in 2017.
• Rohan Saketh Devulapalli is a 13-year-old member of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps from South India. Rohan joined the Kids Press in 2017.
• Owen Osborne is a 10-year-old member of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps from Louisiana. Owen joined the Kids Press in 2017.
• Lilian Jochmann is a 14-year-old member of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps from Wisconsin. Lilian joined the Kids Press in 2016.
• Nolan Pastore is an 11-year-old member of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps from Ohio. Nolan joined the Kids Press in 2017.
• Helen Hong is a 13-year-old member of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps from Australia. Helen joined the Kids Press in 2017.

Special thanks:

• Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
• Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan and Christopher Johnson
• Produced by Emily Morrow