Women of Color: Common Reading Selections for All Ages

Women’s history is still under-discussed and undervalued, doubly so when it comes to the history of women of color.  We’re highlighting some of our recent favorite titles, bringing these women’s stories and perspectives to the forefront.

Read more

Five Key Terms to Understand the Shared Struggle for Black and Latinx Civil Rights: A Letter from Christian Coleman on Paul Ortiz’s New Book

The following letter was contributed by Christian Coleman, Digital Marketing Associate at Beacon Press.  We live in a time where a president makes barefaced remarks in speeches that African Americans and Latinx people are prone to violence and corruption. His statements, obviously, pay no respect to the centuries-long history of African Americans and Latinx people organizing together

Read more

10,000 New Social Housing Units – Thanks to Matthew Desmond’s EVICTED

Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee, read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, which tells the story of eight impoverished families in his city who are threatened with forced eviction. Influenced by this multi-award-winning book, Barrett is launching an ambitious housing project to build or renovate 10,000 housing units in Milwaukee over the next

Read more

WE ARE OKAY Wins the Michael L. Printz Award

Every January (or sometimes February), the ALA youth media awards are announced at the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference. Among those awards is the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature for YA books published in the previous calendar year. This year’s honorees included heavyweights such as Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down and Angie

Read more

Nashua Public Library Celebrated 15 Years of One City, One Book!

  Outreach Coordinator Carol Luers Eyman says one of the best things about Nashua Reads is reader discovery. “People become open to reading a book that they might not have picked up on their own, and after discussing it with others, often come to appreciate a type of book they don’t ordinarily read.” Isn’t this the

Read more

BROWN GIRL DREAMING in Communities Across America

BROWN GIRL DREAMING is the critically acclaimed and award-winning book by Jacqueline Woodson. It’s a memoir about Jacqueline’s experiences on what is like growing up as a young African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the aftershocks of Jim Crow and her own growing awareness of the Civil Rights Movement. Having won the hearts

Read more

Celebrate Constitution Day September 17th

September 17th commemorates the 230th anniversary of the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution, and recognizes the efforts, rights, and responsibilities of all citizens. To celebrate the occasion, we’re highlighting 3 books that we hope will not only help readers gain a better understanding of the Constitution, but also more fully appreciate its continuing

Read more

New Titles for August!

As the summer winds down we wanted to highlight our titles that have just been added to the Common Reads site. If you’re looking for some inspiration to get outdoors in the final weeks of the season, consider reading Trespassing Across America, by Ken Ilgunas. Or if you’re considering fiction titles for a younger audience, Indie Next

Read more