Garrard Conley, a survivor of the controversial “ex-gay” therapy movement, describes his traumatic experience as a gay man growing up in the South. In the years following his escape from extreme prejudice, he has learned one important lesson: compassion has the power to heal wounds, but it’s also one of the messiest human emotions.

With hate rhetoric and hate crimes blasting their way across social media, an all-school or community reads can serve as a powerful antidote to these polarizing fearful times. Books slow us down. Books let us find the humanity of those on the other side of any sort of human-made divide. Teachers know this. Librarians know

Dion Graham has become a familiar voice to both adults and children for his riveting reads of important and beloved books. Hear why he loves “falling into a story” and listen to clips from his recent recordings including RUSA Listen List and Carnegie Medal Winner, EVICTED by Matthew Desmond.

Did you know that more than 85% of learning derives from listening? Chelsea Clinton, author and narrator of IT’S YOUR WORLD, shares some fascinating literacy facts that support why audiobooks are an important addition to any classroom or library.

On February 1st, New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and BuzzFeed announced the launch of “One Book, One New York,” the first ever community reading program for New York City. “

Twitter has become a stage for constant artificial high drama, where every day a new person emerges as either a magnificent hero or a sickening villain.

War photographer Lynsey Addario’s memoir IT’S WHAT I DO will be read by the 2017 incoming Penn State class as part of the Penn State Reads program.

Many times, when communities consider books for a common reading experience, they are taking into account the entire makeup of their group or groups of people. This undoubtedly includes families with young children and/or teenagers, and what better way to bring this collective group together than to appeal to all age groups? When a book

Penguin Random House Academic Resources is pleased to announce the author line-up for the 2017 First-Year Experience® Conference (February 11-14, Atlanta, GA).  Featuring books on social justice, identity, fiction, economic inequality, and more, we have a book and an author that are perfect for your school.  Click here to RSVP to our events. Our author lineup

By Emily Esfahani Smith, author of The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters (Crown, January 2017) When I was a senior in high school, I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life: I was going to be a doctor. I loved science, and easing the suffering of others, I

By Wayne Maines, father of Nicole Maines.  The Maines family is the focus of Amy Ellis Nutt’s Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family (Random House, October 2015) Recently I had the opportunity to speak at Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine. Before the lecture I spent an hour walking around their beautiful campus, thinking

By Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Crown, March 2016) I began this project because I wanted to write a different kind of book about poverty in America. Instead of focusing exclusively on poor people or poor places, I began searching for a process that involved poor and well-off