Over the past two years, we have created a community of readers, in part, through our all-school read. The first year, everyone read Wonder by RJ Palacio. Even my most reluctant colleagues loved Auggie's story and the impact reading it together has on our students. Last year, we tackled A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Not only did our students get the opportunity to read the book, they also had guest from our local branch of Lifewater come and teach them about what it is like to live without a well. Kids carried the 5-gallon jugs, traced the path of water in its daily use, and learned about athletes from Activewater who are working to bring wells to under served communities.This year, I met Wes Moore at the School Library Journal Summit. His young adult book, Discovering Wes Moore, seems like the perfect book for our community this year. The story of both Wes Moores--one a Rhodes scholar and author, one in prison for the rest of his life--will likely resonate with a wide variety of readers. In order to have enough copies of the book, I started a Donors Choose (which was totally funded--yay!) and am also partnering with our local independent bookstore to have copies donated. If you are local, you can stop in at Bookbug of Kalamazoo and donate a copy for $6.29+tax. If you are remote (or just prefer shopping online), Bookbug has provided a link to use for donating a copy (use code MAPLEREADS at checkout to get the discount).
Would you like to share our project with your friends and family? This flyer may be used to advertise our funding efforts. I look forward to sharing the results of this year's endeavor. What books have you used successfully for all-school reads?
