Looking for a book to add to your middle school curriculum that will spark meaningful conversation about racism, especially in schools and sports? Black Brother, Black Brother, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, could be it. Read it with… Jerry Craft’s New Kid to compare microagressions and overt racism, and open readers’ eyes to look more critically […]
Image via Brave and Kind Books My September and October anti-racist read was Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor, by Laya F. Saad. In September, I experienced this book via audiobook, which the author read herself. In October, I purchased a hard copy from my local bookstore, […]
September 28-October 2 is Banned Books Week. Buckle up, because – surprise! – I have some feelings about censorship. Librarian Mike Rawls, otherwise known as @thebookwrangler, put it beautifully on his Instagram page this week: “Books are banned for all kinds of reasons… but 8 out of 10 books on the American Library Association’s Most […]
My June antiracist read was This Book is Antiracist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work, written by Tiffany Jewell and illustrated by Aurélia Durand. Here is some information about the book, from Quarto Kids: Who are you? What is racism? Where does it come from? Why does it […]
One of my summer classes this session is an online book club for 7th and 8th grade readers. While I’m eager for the chance to connect with middle schoolers after a spring semester of mostly focusing on my K-4 readers, I’ve never done an online book club before. I was excited, but worried it would […]
My May antiracist read was Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, by Jason Reynolds and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. This book is the young readers adaptation of Dr. Kendi’s best-selling Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Here is some information about the book, from Jason Reynolds’ website: This is NOT […]
It’s likely to be one of the weirdest summers ever, but time waits for no one! The days are getting longer, the school year is wrapping up, and summer reading is on the way. To help you get your TBR list ready, here are the library interns with their best reading suggestions. Get our your […]
It’s that time of year again – time to reveal our BEST reads of the school year in only 15 words! New to this project? Check out our 15 Words challenge results from 2017-2018, and 2018-2019. This has come to be one of my favorite projects of the year – and one of my most […]
Looking for your next great read? We’ve got a few experts here to help you out! The entire 4th grade got together on Zoom to share the books they’re loving in their independent reading right now. They’ve got great taste, so you’re sure to find something fantastic, no matter what kind of read you’re looking […]
What is Ms. Fitz reading? Here’s the view from May 2, 2020. Time in April seemed to be completely elastic, either racing by or moving so slow it was pretty much backwards. For the first part of the month, I focused so much on the teaching and connecting part of my job (you can see […]