Scholastic Book Fairs gone political

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This is a superficial and ridiculous concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of the problem is that when you "opt in" to receive the case of diverse books, some libraries have been finding that these cases arrive separately, and later, than the other cases. So unfortunately, opting in does not seem like a guarantee that you will receive the full assortment of books.

Depends on where posters are from, but there are a number of independent book fair jobbers that can take the place of Scholastic.

My kids' preschool did their book fair through a local independent book store and their VA elementary school uses READ https://www.readbooknook.org/book-fairs

[Anonymous]

Oh come ON. Any school can still opt in to receive these books. Schools and the teachers and librarians that work for them are being personally targeted and threatened by whackos over these books. I get why a school might not want them. Is it cowardly? Yes. But horrible people have changed the terms around the book fair. I hope schools choose to receive these books and encourage kids to read books that give them a wider view. I would be thrilled to see every school give the book banners the proverbial and literal middle finger. But I also get why some schools can't bear the strain of dealing with garbage people who target educators.

[Anonymous]

There is nothing a leftist hates more than someone ever so slightly less to the left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a minority and don’t see a problem. Scholastic has made it much easier to choose diverse books by grouping them into 1 section. Just have your school include that section when buying the books.

Schools that are not interested in diversity were not buying those books anyway. You can choose the books you buy.

That's not how it works. Students choose the books from the catalog, not the schools.

[Anonymous]

The problem with Scholastic is this business selling throwaway books to our kids instead of filling libraries for efficient sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a minority and don’t see a problem. Scholastic has made it much easier to choose diverse books by grouping them into 1 section. Just have your school include that section when buying the books.

Schools that are not interested in diversity were not buying those books anyway. You can choose the books you buy.

That's not how it works. Students choose the books from the catalog, not the schools.

NP. Our school doesn't focus on the catalog. We choose the books and the kids browse the shelves of books that are shipped to our school. We don't have them order through the catalog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing a leftist hates more than someone ever so slightly less to the left.

I guess when “ever so slightly less to the left” means banning books about Ruby Bridges, Malala, Justice Ketanji, etc then yeah. We hate you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a minority and don’t see a problem. Scholastic has made it much easier to choose diverse books by grouping them into 1 section. Just have your school include that section when buying the books.

Schools that are not interested in diversity were not buying those books anyway. You can choose the books you buy.

That's not how it works. Students choose the books from the catalog, not the schools.

The school's book fair manager chooses categories of books. Scholastic will send a package of books targeted for the grades and interests you send them. When I managed my school's SBF, I chose the books but at a high level. I knew that we had a diverse student body aged 3-14, lots of interest in graphic novels, DogMan fanatics, Minecraft fans, etc. Students can pick things online, but what ends up on the shelves is a combo of what Scholastic has on hand plus what the school requests.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if any no-name authors are bright enough to have “plants”demanding their books (which no one has ever heard of) be “banned” from school libraries and book fairs. That seems like a good way to get another group of people (who have now heard of your books but have still probably not read them) demand that your books not only be offered up for sale, but probably even featured somehow.

If any of you have high school kids who are looking for a writing project/social experiment, it would be interesting to attempt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing a leftist hates more than someone ever so slightly less to the left.

I guess when “ever so slightly less to the left” means banning books about Ruby Bridges, Malala, Justice Ketanji, etc then yeah. We hate you.

- meant to add: except tacit books like Dr. Seuss books. Those should be banned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if any no-name authors are bright enough to have “plants”demanding their books (which no one has ever heard of) be “banned” from school libraries and book fairs. That seems like a good way to get another group of people (who have now heard of your books but have still probably not read them) demand that your books not only be offered up for sale, but probably even featured somehow.

If any of you have high school kids who are looking for a writing project/social experiment, it would be interesting to attempt.

As an author, having a book banned can masssively tank your career (see this article about a picture book author's experience with having her book targeted: https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2023/10/09/transgender-book-banning-censorship-vicki-johnson/stories/202310090009) Schools and bookstores cancel your visits; often, you're left with the stock in your hand. Being an author isn't like Oprah with "you get a car and you get a car!" Even the most successful authors I know have to hustle with school visits and fairs to get their books out there to decision-makers, including parents. It also feels terrible when people essentially call you a pervert or a hysteric or something else racist. It's not fun, and it doesn't help your career.

[Anonymous]

For anyone wondering why diversity in children's books is important, I highly recommend author Grace Lin's Tedx Talk. https://youtu.be/_wQ8wiV3FVo?si=StbnRjfoqHKBDyjt

[Anonymous]

I am not so concerned about the content of any one particular book.

What really matters is the color of the author’s skin.

[Anonymous]

Our APS library has most of these books on the shelves