Scholastic Book Fairs gone political
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Anonymous
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Begging Jeff’s forbearance on me posting this here, but this is the age group that is likely to be running PTO/PTA and organizing the book fairs that are so often fundraisers for elementary schools.
Even if you are not political, you may have heard that several states have taken to banning books. 99% of them aren’t even subversive, they’re just books about Black kids and Black politicians, gay families, trans kids being happy and functional, books about Black history, etc. Basically several states have banned books that aren’t about White, cisgendered, heterosexual people and culture. Scholastic Book Fair has gone ahead and made it even easier for these schools so that no child is possibly exposed to terrifying books about multiculturalism by shunting all such books into one collection with the Orwellian name of “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice” that schools can opt out of selling altogether. “The list includes some commonly challenged books about civil rights activists, such as I Am Ruby Bridges and Because of You, John Lewis, and She Dared: Malala Yousafzai. Books about Black families and same-sex families are also included in the collection.” https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/scholastic-says-schools-can-exclude-diverse-titles-from-book-fairs/2023/10?utm_source=nl&utm_medium=eml&utm_campaign=eu&M=8043891&UUID=b0ea7e3f30811eaf60411751cbcc40c0&T=10694231 Here’s the complete list: “ The ABCs of Black History by Rio Cortez All Are Neighbors by Alexandra Penfold All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal Alma’s Way: Junior’s Lost Tooth by Gabrielle Reyes Battle Dragons: City of Speed by Alex London Battle Dragons: City of Thieves by Alex London Because of You, John Lewis by Andrea Davis Pinkney Big Nate: Payback Time! by Lincoln Peirce Blended by Sharon M. Draper Booked (Graphic Novel) by Kwame Alexander Change Sings by Amanda Gorman City of Dragons: Rise of the Shadowfire by Jaimal Yogis Dragon Prince Graphic Novel #2: Bloodmoon Huntress by Nicole Andelfinger Dragon Prince Graphic Novel #3: Puzzle House by Peter Wartman Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez Freestyle by Gale Galligan The Girl in the Lake by India Hill Brown The Girl With Big, Big Questions by Britney Winn Lee Her Own Two Feet by Meredith Davis Our World in Pictures, the History Book Home for Meow: Kitten Around by Reese Eschmann Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams by Tanisia Moore I Am Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges I Color Myself Different by Colin Kaepernick Into the Heartlands: A Black Panther Graphic Novel by Roseanne A. Brown JoJo’s Sweet Adventures: The Great Candy Caper by JoJo Siwa Justice Ketanji by Denise Lewis Patrick Karma’s World: Daddy and Me and the Rhyme to Be by Halcyon Person Karma’s World: The Great Shine-a-Thon Showcase! by Halcyon Person The Loud House: No Bus, No Fuss by Shannon Penney The Loud House: Old Friends, New Friends by Daniel Mauleon Mabuhay! by Zachary Sterling Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow More Than Peach (Bellen Woodard Original Picture Book) by Bellen Woodard Nuestra América by Sabrina Vourvoulias Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang Pedro and the Shark by Fran Manushkin Pets Rule: My Kingdom of Darkness by Susan Tan Pets Rule: The Rise of the Goldfish by Susan Tan Picture Day by Sarah Sax Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall Refugee by Alan Gratz Reina Ramos Works It Out by Emma Otheguy Remarkably Ruby by Terri Libenson Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac The Secret Battle of Evan Pao by Wendy Wan-Long Shang She Dared: Malala Yousafzai by Jenni L. Walsh Speak Up! by Rebecca Burgess Sports Heroes Lebron James The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson That Girl Lay Lay: It’s Time to #Slay by That Girl Lay Lay with Kwyn Bader That Girl Lay Lay: Positive Vibes Only by Andrea Loney Thunderous by M. L. Smoker The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat We Shall Overcome by Bryan Collier When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Méndez Who Was the Greatest? by Gabriel Soria You Are Enough by Margaret O’Hair You Are Loved by Margaret O’Hair” So if you’re the one tasked with organizing the book fair next year, try one of the other book fair options instead. |
Anonymous
| Kids have to be protected from explicit content like "Home for Meow: Kitten Around" |
Anonymous
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This is helpful! Thanks for posting.
My kid’s school is doing the scholastic book fair and I dislike the idea of supporting banned kid’s books. As an adult, most of my favorite books have been targeted. This year it’s too late but it’s worthwhile to think about for next year. |
Anonymous
| Wow. That's insane. |
Anonymous
| I liked the book fairs. We used them to teach our kids to shop around. Give them a phone and let them scan the barcodes in Amazon to compare prices and they learn about markups |
Anonymous
You’re welcome. And yes it’s too late for this year (my kids’ book fair was two weeks ago!) but for next year I think it’s important to know that Scholastic is doing the work of those who would ban books. I think all children should be able to see themselves and I think it’s especially egregious that Black history is being carved out. I don’t know much about Lebron James (other than he’s very good at basketball) but it seems just offensive that a book that’s probably pretty innocuous is able to be kept away from kids. I’m in a position to take my kids to the library and independent book stores whenever, but not everyone has that privilege. This is just gross of Scholastic. |
Anonymous
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How much validity is there to Scholastic's claim that it was the best of all bad options? I don't know enough about how book fairs run to know whether schools have to offer full collections as a package or can pick and choose individual books within those collections. Can a PTA parent illuminate, please?
Earlier this month, Scholastic took a stance against book bans by signing an open letter opposing book bans, written by PEN America. However, the publisher said in its press release Friday that, given proliferating legislation that’s leading to increasing restrictions, bans, and challenges, its only choice was to make books about race, gender, or sexuality optional in its book fair collection or not offering them at all. “We don’t pretend this solution is perfect—but the other option would be to not offer these books at all—which is not something we’d consider,” the press release read. |
Anonymous
“Because Scholastic Book Fairs are invited into schools, where books can be purchased by kids on their own, these laws create an almost impossible dilemma: back away from these titles or risk making teachers, librarians, and volunteers vulnerable to being fired, sued, or prosecuted,” the Scholastic press release said. “We cannot make a decision for our school partners around what risks they are willing to take, based on the state and local laws that apply to their district.” |
Anonymous
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This sounds so sad. Scholastic book fairs are one of my favourite memories and how I started my love of reading.
Are we only allowed to read about straight white males or something? |
Anonymous
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I think the key here is to make sure that your school is including the collection in its offerings. If enough schools make it clear that they want the full array of available books — AND oppose the segregation of books into special collections, Scholastic will be able to plan better going forward.
While Scholastic may have made it easier for states banning books, there’s not much that I’m aware of that Scholastic could do to change or even challenge that. I’m pro Scholastic and giving them the benefit of the doubt here because in my experience as a student and working in schools in under-resourced areas they have long offered students access to a range of books. I actually got some of my first books featuring girls as central characters and POC as central characters from Scholastic Book Fairs many decades ago — when the local Brentanos didn’t have much at all. So I think Scholastic represents the good guys — trying to pivot as effectively as they can with a horrible situation. |
Anonymous
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Already a thread
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1162348.page#25997242 |
Anonymous
While I certainly understand your stance, what alternatives would you suggest for Scholastic? Genuine Question. I’d be happy to advocate and work for better solutions. While it’s “gross of Scholastic “ I can see genuinely wanting to offer kids access to some books rather than none — while making it quite easy for schools to include the banned books. Instead of blaming Scholastic, push to ensure that your schools include all of the books at their fairs — and work to change things so that a handful of people with agendas don’t get to continue to tailor everyone’s educational and cultural experiences to their own limited, racist standards. Also: banning efforts started with school libraries and have extended to public libraries, so with the banning efforts, fewer and fewer people will have access to alternatives. Our tax dollars are being used to support truly heinous agendas — and most librarians and educators need support with effective ways to confront these bans without risking their jobs or even their safety. |
Anonymous
| So the regular books are only about white American kids? |
Anonymous
You missed the point. Your school is free to open up the bookshelves that are marked. Just like they are free to hide the crap that Scholastic sells. We only sell books, bookmarks, and posters. We open all of the cases, and are sure to have a $5 and under area so that we can direct kids to more affordable books. |
Anonymous
| Our school does its book fair though a local children’s bookstore. I know that’s not an option for every community though. |