All Community Read

Read Along With Us

Literature has the power to nurture our capacity for empathy and to strengthen our communities. Our All Community Read events harness this power and bring together people from across our network — educators, students, staff, and supporters – to build shared understanding, create a shared experience, and open up conversations that connect to our mission and work.

New to our offering this year is a selection of engaging and empowering texts on the theme of Borders and Belonging. The need for connection – to feel a sense of belonging – takes on particular importance during middle and high school. Each of these books explores how tangible and intangible borders shape this feeling of belonging.

Books to Choose From

We have identified the below texts as ideal for this year’s theme. For guidance with the text selection process, review pages 18-21 of our ELA Unit Planning Guide with your planning team. Please read any book(s) before making the selection for your school community. 

Middle-School Level Books

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga 
Fiction; Grades 6-8; 341 pages

Jude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.

At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven't quite prepared her for starting school in the US--and her new label of "Middle Eastern," an identity she's never known before.

But this life also brings unexpected surprises--there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.

This lyrical, life-affirming story is about losing and finding home and, most importantly, finding yourself.

The Distance Between Us (Young Readers Edition) by Reyna Grande
Memoir; Grades 6-9; 336 pages (available in Spanish) 

When her parents make the dangerous and illegal trek across the Mexican border in pursuit of the American dream, Reyna and her siblings are forced to live with their stern grandmother, as they wait for their parents to build the foundation of a new life.

But when things don’t go quite as planned, Reyna finds herself preparing for her own journey to “El Otro Lado” to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years: her long-absent father. Both funny and heartbreaking, The Distance Between Us beautifully captures the struggle that Reyna and her siblings endured while trying to assimilate to a different culture, language, and family life in El Otro Lado (The Other Side).

Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson 
Fiction; Grades 6-8; 224 pages

All Amara wants for her birthday is to visit her father's family in New York City--Harlem, to be exact. She can't wait to finally meet her Grandpa Earl and cousins in person, and to stay in the brownstone where her father grew up. Maybe this will help her understand her family--and herself--in new way.

But New York City is not exactly what Amara thought it would be. It's crowded, with confusing subways, suffocating sidewalks, and her father is too busy with work to spend time with her and too angry to spend time with Grandpa Earl. As she explores, asks questions, and learns more and more about Harlem and about her father and his family history, she realizes how, in some ways more than others, she connects with him, her home, and her family.

High-School Level Books

Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
Fiction; Grades 9-12; 211 pages

Nima wishes she were someone else. She doesn’t feel understood by her mother, who grew up in a different land. She doesn’t feel accepted in her suburban town; yet somehow, she isn’t different enough to belong elsewhere. Her best friend, Haitham, is the only person with whom she can truly be herself. Until she can’t, and suddenly her only refuge is gone.
 
As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen—the name her parents meant to give her at birth—Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might be more real than Nima knows.  And the life Nima wishes were someone else’s. . . is one she will need to fight for with a fierceness she never knew she possessed.

Borderless by Jennifer De Leon 
Fiction; Grades 9-12; 336 pages

For seventeen-year-old Maya, trashion is her passion, and her talent for making clothing out of unusual objects landed her a scholarship to Guatemala City's most prestigious design school and a finalist spot in the school's fashion show. Mamá is her biggest supporter, taking on extra jobs to pay for what the scholarship doesn't cover, and she might be even more excited than Maya about what the fashion show could do for her future career.

So when Mamá doesn't come to the show, Maya doesn't know what to think. But the truth is worse than she could have imagined. The gang threats in their neighborhood have walked in their front door--with a boy Maya considered a friend, or maybe even more, among them. After barely making their escape, Maya and her mom have no choice but to continue their desperate flight all the way through Guatemala and Mexico in hopes of crossing the US border.

They have to cross. They must cross! Can they?

Call Me American: The Extraordinary True Story of a Young Somali Immigrant by Abdi Nor Iftin
Memoir; Grades 8-12; 272 pages

Born six years before the beginning of the Somali tribal civil war, the author grew up in the city of Mogadishu. Iftin’s parents had lived nomadic lives before having children, raising camels, and living off the land. In urban Mogadishu, Iftin’s schooling consisted of a rigorous study of the Koran; he endured corporal punishment by his teacher for imperfect memorization. As a preteen, he taught himself English by sneaking into a makeshift cinema that screened American action movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. He became obsessed with American culture, translating movies into Arabic for his peers, which gained him the nickname “Abdi American.”

As the war raged on and the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab gained power, Iftin’s fascination with the Western world made him a target. He pursued the seemingly unattainable dream of leaving Somalia. After years of paperwork, bribery, secret dispatches via the BBC, and a very unlikely turn of fate, he found himself on a flight to America.

Throughout this heartrending memoir, Iftin’s voice remains straightforward and frank but not unfeeling, highlighting the searing reality of his journey. His story is told with humor and optimism that balance the sadness of his story. The challenges he faced upon reaching the United States provide a unique critique of the imperfect notion of the American Dream.

Learning for Everyone

We will be offering professional learning events for educators and special virtual discussions for students, supporters, and members of our learning community throughout the year to support this All Community Read, including an educator webinar and online author event.

Join us December 4, 2024 at our free educator webinar, Exploring Borders and Belonging in an All Community Read as we introduce this year's thematic texts and provide strategies for engaging your school community.  

More details will be added here as they become available.