69传媒

69传媒 & Literacy

Scholastic Says 69传媒 Can Exclude Diverse Titles From Book Fairs

By Eesha Pendharkar 鈥 October 16, 2023 5 min read
Gabrian McDaniel, 9, picks out a book at a book fair at Dixie Elementary School in Tyler, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2017.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Update: Scholastic has reversed its decision to allow schools to exclude a collection of books about LGBTQ+ characters and Black characters when hosting its book fairs. Read more.

Elementary schools that host Scholastic book fairs can now choose to exclude certain books about race and LGBTQ+ characters issues, the publisher announced in a press release late last week.

In response to several state laws that restrict books and other learning materials related to race, racism, gender, and LGBTQ+ topics in libraries and classrooms, Scholastic鈥攖he publisher of several well-known children鈥檚 books鈥攁nnounced in a press release late Friday that it was adding an optional collection to the list of books that educators can choose to include or exclude from book fairs.

By separating these 64 books鈥攎any about LGBTQ+ characters, civil rights activists, and people of color鈥攊nto a separate collection called 鈥淪hare Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice,鈥 the publisher says it allows schools to opt out of offering the titles at a book fair.

Over the past two years, several states have enacted laws limiting the use of classroom and library materials about these topics. That legislation has led to at least 3,362 instances of book bans in U.S. public school classrooms and libraries in the 2022-23 school year, according to PEN America, a free speech advocacy organization. The bans removed student access to 1,557 unique book titles, the latest PEN data says.

Earlier this month, Scholastic took a stance against book bans by signing an , written by PEN America.

However, the publisher said in its press release Friday that, given proliferating legislation that鈥檚 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.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 pretend this solution is perfect鈥攂ut the other option would be to not offer these books at all鈥攚hich is not something we鈥檇 consider,鈥 the press release read.

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.

To create the list, Scholastic 鈥渂egan with titles we support even as they are the most likely to be restricted,鈥 said Anne Sparkman, senior vice president of corporate communications at Scholastic in an emailed statement to Education Week.

69传媒 can choose to order specific titles in the collection for the book fair, she said.

鈥淏ecause 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,鈥 the Scholastic press release said.

鈥淲e 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.鈥

Scholastic launched its fairs in 1981, and currently hosts more than 120,000 events annually across the country, .

The complete list of books in Scholastic鈥檚 separate collection

This is the list of the 64 book titles for the Scholastic book fair鈥檚 鈥淪hare Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice鈥 collection, according to its fall of 2023 preview, provided to EdWeek. It includes a disclaimer that while it includes most of the books that will be available, 鈥淪ome books may not be available and there may be some books鈥攏ot in this preview鈥攕ent as substitutes.鈥

  • 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鈥檚 Way: Junior鈥檚 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
  • Efr茅n 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鈥 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鈥檚 Sweet Adventures: The Great Candy Caper by JoJo Siwa
  • Justice Ketanji by Denise Lewis Patrick
  • Karma鈥檚 World: Daddy and Me and the Rhyme to Be by Halcyon Person
  • Karma鈥檚 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鈥檚 Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
  • More Than Peach (Bellen Woodard Original Picture Book) by Bellen Woodard
  • Nuestra Am茅rica 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 M茅ndez
  • Who Was the Greatest? by Gabriel Soria
  • You Are Enough by Margaret O鈥橦air
  • You Are Loved by Margaret O鈥橦air
Related Tags:

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

69传媒 & Literacy Opinion Boys Don't Love to Read. Could This Former Teacher Be on to Something?
Boys are falling behind in reading. Books with military-history themes may help reverse this trend.
7 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
69传媒 & Literacy Is Handwriting a Lost Art? What One College鈥檚 Kerfuffle Over Cursive Can Tell Us
Since 2014, there鈥檚 been a resurgence of cursive and handwriting education.
6 min read
A photograph of a close up of cursive handwriting that is undecipherable
E+
69传媒 & Literacy Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Student Literacy Data?
Answer 7 questions about the importance of student literacy data and how to collect and use it.
69传媒 & Literacy 69传媒 Interventions for Older 69传媒 May Be Missing a Key Component
Many older elementary and middle school students still struggle with foundational reading skills.
6 min read
An illustration of a high school student looking in to an open book with black, gray, and red letters circling about around him.
iStock/Getty