It’s important that students have access to books that act as mirrors to their own experiences, but also windows to explore the lived experiences of others. The coming-of-age genre is a great way for students to reflect on the universality of growing up.   The coming-of-age genre is also an excellent way for teachers to help

All reading communities should contain protected time for the sake of reading. Independent reading practices emphasize the process of making meaning through reading, not an end product. The school culture (teachers, administration, etc.) should affirm this daily practice time as inherently important instructional time for all readers. (NCTE, 2019)   The Penguin Random House High

Contributed by Malaina Kapoor, co-author of Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education. A searing, deeply personal memoir of a tenacious Afghan girl who educated herself behind closed doors and fought her way to a new life, the book has received advance praise from Bill Gates, Sal Khan, and

Calling all new teachers: welcome to your first official school year! To kick things off, we created the Resource Pack for New Teachers: Tips, Ideas, and Booklists to Help You Get Started in the Classroom (Grades 9-12). We asked a veteran educator to share some strategies and best practices she’s learned through her own classroom

By David Laskin   After a long career successful in narrative nonfiction (The Children’s Blizzard, The Long Way Home, The Family), I decided a few years ago to jump the fence to fiction. My first novel, What Sammy Knew, is the story of a high school senior named Sammy Stein who, in the first months

Penguin Random House is proud to celebrate Latinx & Hispanic Heritage Month.  We are highlighting the works of our incredible authors from the Latinx and Hispanic community whose stories and characters have a profound impact on our society.  Using #IAmLaCultura, join us this month and beyond in sharing stories of the Latinx and Hispanic voices

Penguin Random House has partnered with Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, to launch The Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry, a new creative writing award for poetry for public high school students. The award will recognize a student for an original literary composition in English for poetry with a first-place prize of

This Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11, a moment to reckon with our past and reimagine our future. To help educators engage with the complex impacts of 9/11 in the classroom, Valarie Kaur—Sikh activist and author of See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love—has created a guide for teaching and learning

Contributed by Michelle Kuo, author of Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship Every teacher has likely experienced two emotions: the feeling that you’ve gotten through to a student and the feeling that you’ve let him down. In the first, the classroom is a powerful place of human connection, and the