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.
Resources:
Summer Reading List for 6- to 7-year-olds: Encourage joyful summer reading with these engaging books.
Summer Reading List for 8- to 10-year-olds: Keep kids reading all summer long with these riveting fiction and nonfiction titles.
Top Book Series: Find the perfect summer series for your young readers.
Classic and Contemporary Young Adult Novels: From The Giver to The Fault in Our Stars, this list of 24 classic and modern YA titles will get—and keep—teens reading.
Save the Children: The humanitarian aid organization champions the rights of the world’s 2.3 billion children.
Highlights:
“My memories of the summer are eating blackberries that my grandparents would grow on their farm and then . . . have a big bowl of blackberries and a book, and just nothing else to do. And it was pretty good.”
—Christina Soontornvat, author, Diary of an Ice Princess series
“I want young readers—I want all readers, actually—to be able to pick up this book and just get whisked off onto another adventure.”
—Kwame Mbalia, co-author, Last Gate of the Emperor
“Even as I grew and evolved as a reader, I was always still drawn to children’s fiction. It’s a bit hard to describe why—but I just feel like children’s fiction is [frankly] a lot more fun and allowed me to escape to amazing places.”
—Tracey West, co-author, The Underdogs series
“I was not a reader as a child. I had some big reading struggles. But I do have a wonderful memory of my father reading Winnie the Pooh to my brother and me.”
—Lauren Tarshis, author, I Survived series
“We see this summer as a critical foundation to either catch up and move ahead, or perhaps have the achievement gap widen.”
—Shane Garver, associate vice president of rural education, Save the Children
Special Thanks:
Producer: Bridget Benjamin
Associate producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl
Coming Soon:
Aaron Blabey and The Bad Guys • Because of You, John Lewis
