Scholastic Reads

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

In this episode, we’re spotlighting the Scholastic Summer Reading program. Authors Christina Soontornvat, Kwame Mbalia, Tracey West, and Lauren Tarshis join host Suzanne McCabe to introduce the books they will be sharing with young readers this summer. Lauren offers a sneak peek of her upcoming I Survived The Wellington Avalanche, 1910, which is due out in September. 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.

In this episode, we’re celebrating Pride Month with Alex Gino. Alex is the acclaimed author of several queer and progressive middle grade novels, including Rick, You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P!, and the newly-released Alice Austen Lived Here. 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

In this episode, we honor Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with authors Debbi Michiko Florence and Gita Varadarajan. A former classroom teacher, Debbi is the author of award-winning middle grade novels Keep It Together, Keiko Carter, and Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai, among several other titles. 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.

During the pandemic, an increasing number of children and adolescents have reported struggling with anxiety and depression. How can we help them process their emotions and get the support they need? In this episode, Dr. Amanda Alexander and Dr. Jose Paez talk with host Suzanne McCabe about the role social and emotional learning (SEL) plays in the classroom and how it can foster the knowledge and skills kids need to thrive. Amanda and Jose also discuss how reading and storytelling can help children and families cope with the higher levels of stress and anxiety many are feeling. “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 (https://casel.org/): 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 (https://medicine.yale.edu/childstudy/scholasticcollab/)– Scholastic Collaborative: Learn how the Collaborative is developing ways to build child and family resilience. SEL Resources (https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/home-page-logged-out/resources-for-responding-to-violence-and-tragedy/social-emotional-worksheets.html): 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 (https://shop.scholastic.com/teachers-ecommerce/teacher/shops/social-emotional-learning-collection.html): 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