School Libraries

Pushing between snack time and reading group, Zack, a third-grade boy, ducks into our school library while another class is beginning to check out books.

As a teenager, I lived in two worlds: the traditional Bengali heritage inside our home and the contemporary California of my suburban peers.

Sometimes the gap between those two worlds seemed huge. Apple pie? Didn’t taste it till I got to college. Our kitchen smelled of mustard-seed oil, turmeric, and cardamom. Bikinis? No way. A one-piece bathing suit felt too revealing (and still does). My mother never showed her legs in public, even when she eventually shelved her sarees in favor of jeans and long skirts. Dating? Fuhgeddaboudit. My parents’ marriage was arranged, and the clan expected the same for me.

Creativity is an increasingly important skill for students to learn in a world where machines can perform rote tasks and calculations—and for the fifth straight year, Crayola will be hosting free lessons and activities that foster student creativity during its annual Crayola Creativity Week.

“It's important to us that our books have staying power. We want to publish books that resonate today and that will be resonant twenty years from now,” says Associate Publisher Susan Dobinick of Astra Books for Young Readers. Two such titles are Astra’s new books celebrating Black history.

We offer seven books in various formats for middle graders and up that do not offer one-on-one substitutions for Ayn Rand's Anthem, but will certainly satisfy readers' dystopian cravings.

Those assigning Scott O'Dell's 1960 novel Island of the Blue Dolphins may want to look at these contemporary and historical works featuring coming-of-age themes and accurate depictions of Indigenous culture.