From award-winning fiction, poetry, memoir, and biography to new books about the environment, current events, history, public health, science, social justice, student success, and technology, the titles presented in our common reading catalog will have students not only eagerly flipping through the pages, but also excited for the chance to discuss their reading journey when they return to campus. Selected titles include program mainstays as well as new titles from emerging authors that look at contemporary topics and issues facing young people today.
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unCommon Authors is a monthly video series highlighting exceptional and unique authors talking about their books.
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An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, NEA Big Read annually supports approximately 75 dynamic community reading programs. Each community program that receives an NEA Big Read grant is also provided with resources, outreach materials, and training.
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Are you interested in bringing your entire school community together for a shared literacy event? If your answer is “YES!,” an all-school reading program— appropriate for K-12 levels—is an exciting and engaging experience to consider. Download the How to Start an All-School Reading Program Resource to get started.
Learn MoreWith the fall semester in full swing, colleges and universities around the country have announced their Common Reading books for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year. We’ve compiled a list of over 284 programs and their title selections from publicly available sources, which you can download here: First-Year Reading 2025-26. We will continue to update this
Read morePenguin Random House Author Events at the 45th Annual First-Year Experience® Conference February 15-18, 2026 Seattle, Washington Hyatt Regency Seattle Click Here to RSVP A complimentary meal and a limited number of books will be available to attendees. Each event will also be followed by an author signing. Interested in hosting one of these authors at
Read moreWe are delighted to present our new First-Year & Common Reading Catalog for 2026! From award-winning fiction, poetry, memoir, and biography to new books about the environment, current events, history, public health, science, social justice, student success, and technology, the titles presented in our common reading catalog will have students not only eagerly flipping through
Read moreFrom one of our most acclaimed chroniclers of the forces eroding America’s social fabric, her most personal and powerful work: a reckoning with the changes that have rocked her own beloved small Ohio hometown. It was June 2023, and Silas James had just graduated from Urbana High School, forty-one years after I wore that
Read moreDear Reader, With heat waves, wildfires, storms, and floods becoming ever more deadly, the urgency of climate action is increasingly understood. Unfortunately, people are unsure what to do beyond choosing a more fuel-efficient vehicle or other options that are out of reach for most college students. When faced with the need to transform our systems,
Read moreSettler capitalism has been so effective that the very identities of Indigenous people have been usurped, misconstrued, and weaponized. In Who Gets to Be Indian?, scholar and writer Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) explores how ethnic fraud and the commodification of Indianness has resulted in mass confusion about what it means to be Indigenous in the United
Read moreHow to Foster Civil Discourse in the Classroom Using the Science of Group Dynamics to Help Your Students Disagree Well By Colin M. Fisher, professor at University College London and author of The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups Universities were once celebrated as places where ideas could be challenged, debated, and
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