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In this episode, we’re celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with New York Times bestselling comic artist Betty C. Tang. Betty talks with host Suzanne McCabe about her extraordinary new graphic novel, Parachute Kids.


The story introduces readers to 10-year-old Feng-Li, a Taiwanese girl who can’t wait to vacation in the United States with her family. But she gets shocking news along the way. Her parents will be heading back to Taiwan after the family’s vacation, leaving Feng-Li and her older brother and sister to fend for themselves. By turns harrowing and hilarious, the story shows the siblings learning to navigate a strange new country and language on their own, while struggling to hold the family together.


Betty is the New York Times bestselling illustrator of the Jacky Ha-Ha series of graphic novels by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. She has worked for several Hollywood animation studies, including Disney TV and Dreamworks Animation. She also co-directed an animated feature called Where’s the Dragon?


→ Resources
Parachute Kids: Betty C. Tang’s graphic novel about three siblings living on their own as undocumented new immigrants is inspired by her own childhood as a parachute kid.
Honoring AANHPI Voices: Check out these titles for young readers.


→ Highlights
Betty C. Tang, author, Parachute Kids
“A lot of times, books tend to make parents the bad guys, [but] parents who want an opportunity to provide a new life for their children are not villains.”


“I wanted to be a manga artist, and I couldn’t. So now here I am creating a graphic novel.”


“[Feng-Li’s] purpose is to hold her family together before she loses everything.”


“To the immigrant readers, whether they’re parachute kids or not, I would like them to realize that they’re not alone and that they can get through this.”


“Sometimes, as a newcomer, you really feel like you’re the only one.”


“I hope the book will help foster a sense of empathy.”


→ Special Thanks
Producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl


→ Coming Soon


Scholastic Art & Writing Awards


Pride Month

In this episode, we introduce you to siblings Merwin and Louise. They are two tiny sycamore seeds, living in a world filled with dinosaurs, asteroids, and volcanoes. Merwin and Louise are the creation of author and illustrator Brian Selznick, who discusses his new novel, Big Tree, with host Suzanne McCabe


The siblings’ story began with an idea from filmmaker Steven Spielberg. It evolved into Big Tree, an epic adventure of more than 500 pages. In the episode, you’ll hear a clip of the audiobook, which is narrated by Meryl Streep.


Brian is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator whose books have sold millions of copies, garnered countless awards worldwide, and been translated into more than 35 languages. He broke open the novel form with his genre-defying thematic trilogy, beginning with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was adapted into Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning movie, Hugo.


→ Resources

Big Tree: The fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little sycamore seeds, Louise and Merwin, in this epic adventure.


Big Tree audiobook: The audio version of Big Tree is narrated by Meryl Streep and features music composed by Ernest Troost.


→ Highlights

Brian Selznick, author, Big Tree
“[Steven Spielberg] realized he had never seen a movie told from the point of view of nature—a movie about nature from nature’s point of view.”


“The pandemic hit, and it became very clear that the movie was never going to happen…. But I had fallen in love with these characters and the story.”


“When you begin Big Tree, it looks like we’re in a forest today, but then you eventually discover there’s a dinosaur walking by, and you realize we’re 66 million years in the past.”


“The anthropomorphizing that I’m doing is all based in scientific ideas.”


“We’re facing a real threat to the environment today. The world is in real danger.”


“I really do hope that [readers] take away a love for the characters because that’s the main thing I feel about Merwin and Louise.”


→ Special Thanks

Producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl


→ Coming Soon

Betty C. Tang: Parachute Kids


Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Everyone loves a good Titanic story. Jennifer A. Nielsen has written a great one! In this episode, she talks with host Suzanne McCabe about Iceberg, her new middle grade novel. It’s already a best-seller.


Iceberg follows the journey of 12-year-old Hazel Rothbury, who is traveling alone on the Titanic. She dreams of escaping her fate as a factory worker by telling hidden stories about the majestic ship that is speeding across the Atlantic Ocean.


Jennifer is also the author of the Ascendance series, the historical thrillers Resistance and A Night Divided, and several other acclaimed titles.


→ Resources

Iceberg: In this middle-grade novel, readers meet 12-year-old Hazel Rothbury, who is traveling from her home in England aboard the celebrated Titanic.


Jennifer A. Nielsen: Learn more about the New York Times bestselling author.


→ Highlights

Jennifer A. Nielsen, author, Iceberg
“Curiosity is such a gift, a trait, for anybody to have, and Hazel is thick with it.”


“There are so many ‘What if’ questions. What if this one thing might have been different? Could all of history have changed?”


“You can write your future, and if you don’t like the future that is ahead for you, write!”


“A reader will always get what they need from a story.”


→ Special Thanks

Producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl


→ Coming Soon

EARTH DAY—Brian Selznick: Big Tree


AAPI MONTH—Betty C. Tang: Parachute Kids

During Women’s History Month, we celebrate women who paved the way in a range of fields—from politics and the law to aviation and technology. In this episode, host Suzanne McCabe talks with Ruchira Gupta, a journalist, author, and activist who is ensuring a future for girls who otherwise might not have one. Ruchira has worked tirelessly to help girls in India, Nepal, and other countries escape the brutal world of child sex trafficking. She is the co-founder of Apne Aap, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that empowers women and girls to escape the vicious cycle of prostitution.


Ruchira’s work with vulnerable women and girls inspired her new novel for young adults. It’s called I Kick and I Fly. The story introduces readers to 14-year-old Heera, who is growing up in a red-light district in India. Heera escapes being sold into the sex trade when a local activist teaches her kung fu and helps her understand the value of her body. As Gloria Steinem says, I Kick and I Fly is a book “that could save lives.”


Ruchira is also a visiting professor at New York University. Her documentary about sex trafficking in India and Nepal, The Selling of Innocents, won an Emmy Award in 1996 for outstanding investigative journalism. She holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Smith College.


→ Resources
Meet Ruchira Gupta: Learn more about the author, artist, and activist, who divides her time between New York and Forbesganj, her childhood home in the foothills of the Himalayas.


Apne Aap: The NGO that Ruchira co-founded works to end sex trafficking by preventing intergenerational prostitution.


I Kick and I Fly: Order the new YA novel by Ruchira Gupta.


Celebrating Courageous Women: Check out these biographies for young people from Scholastic.


→ Highlights


Ruchira Gupta, author, I Kick and I Fly


“I Kick and I Fly is about a young girl who's only 14 years old, and she’s born in a nomadic tribe in India. She’s about to be sold into prostitution until a woman’s right advocate enrolls her in a kung fu program. Through the practice of kung fu, she discovers the power of her body, and fights for it.”


“I've been running an NGO called Apne Aap, which means self-action in Hindi. The NGO works amongst nomadic tribes which are marginalized, so marginalized that prostitution is passed on from mother to daughter, and pimping from father to son.”


“I was a journalist, and I was walking through the hills of Nepal, when I came across rows of villages with missing girls. I decided that I wanted to find out more, so I began to ask the men drinking tea and playing cards where the girls were. And the answer changed my life. They told me that they were in Bombay. Now, Bombay was nearly 1,400 kilometers away, and these villages were in remote Himalayan hamlets…. I followed the story, and I ended up in the brothels of Bombay. I saw little girls as young as 13 and 14 locked up in tiny rooms for years.”


“I went on to win an Emmy for outstanding investigative journalism. And when I was on stage in the Broadway Marquis Hotel, and everyone was clapping, and there were the bright lights, all I could see were the eyes of the women in the brothels of Bombay who had spoken out in my documentary, because they said they wanted to save their daughters.”


“Behind the story of me being a journalist was that I used to love reading books as a child. And librarians were some of the most important people in my life. My mother enrolled me as a 10-year-old in a library. These librarians would tell me, ‘Take this book, take that book,’ so I lived in the world of stories. I became a free thinker because of the stories I read, because of the family I grew up in, which encouraged ideas, but also the books that I read.”


“I saw the mothers who were scared to come to our meetings slowly challenge the men who would say, ‘We’ll bury you alive,’ ‘We'll cut your head off,’ et cetera. And they would still walk fr

When Akim Aliu was a young boy, he and his family moved to Canada. His parents wanted a better life for their two sons. Akim’s father is Nigerian, and his mother Ukrainian. Whether they lived in Ukraine, Nigeria, or Canada, the family faced discrimination and bigotry.


Things didn’t improve when Akim developed a love of ice hockey. Money was tight, and the sport wasn’t welcoming to children of color. Still, Akim’s parents did everything they could to help him follow his dreams.


Akim made it all the way to the National Hockey League. But he faced systemic racism at every level of the game. He’s now speaking out in the hope that a new generation of young athletes won’t have to endure the brutality he did.


In this Black History Month episode, Akim talks with host Suzanne McCabe about Dreamer, his new graphic memoir for 8- to 12-year-olds. Co-authored by Greg Anderson Elysée, the book is illustrated by Karen De La Vega and Marcus Williams, and published by Scholastic Graphix and Kaepernick Publishing.


Akim also founded the Time to Dream Foundation and is co-chairman of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, where he continues his mission of broadening access and eradicating racism in youth sports.


→ Resources

Dreamer: Akim’s graphic memoir for 8- to 12-year-olds is co-authored by Greg Anderson Elysée and illustrated by Karen De La Vega and Marcus Williams.


Hockey Diversity Alliance: Find out how the organization that Akim co-founded is changing the face of hockey.


Racism in the NHL: As this New York Times article explains, Akim publicly addressed racism in the hockey world in 2020.


35 Books for Black History Month: These titles for grades K-12 celebrate individuals whose contributions have changed the world.


→ Highlights

Akim Aliu, co-author, Dreamer


“The whole goal around doing this book was to inspire the next generation of kids who look like me, Black and Brown kids, but also at the same time, the kids who are socio-economically disadvantaged. My story is one that had a lot of trials and tribulations, but I also learned a lot through my journey.”


“It’s a book to inspire people who are going through tough times, to know that anything is possible. I’m a kid who was born in Africa who ended up making it to the NHL.”


“Hockey . . . is my passion, and it’s my love. I’m glad I got those $10 pair of skates, because they gave me an opportunity to be where I am today.”


“Starting at such an early age, at 11, 12 years old, and hearing the N-word being hurled at you, and not being able to do anything about it…. The hardest thing about it was just never, ever playing with anybody else who looked like me.”


“In my 12 years that I played professionally, I played with one other player of color…. There’s not really anybody to turn to that you can have a conversation with, that would understand what you’re going through.”


“There are a lot of kids who look like me and come from the areas that I come from that also deserve an opportunity and deserve not to be excluded from our game.”


“For me, dreaming and faith go hand in hand because . . . it’s believing in something that you can’t yet see.”


“I hope kids don’t give up on their dreams.”


→ Special Thanks

Producer: Constance Gibbs
Sound engineer: Daniel Jordan
Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl


→ Coming Soon
Ruchira Gupta: I Kick and I Fly


Brian Selznick: Big Tree

If you haven’t met Eva the Owlet, you’re in for a treat. She’s headed to Apple TV+ for her own animated series, which debuts on March 31.


Eva is the adorable narrator of Owl Diaries, a New York Times bestselling book series by author and illustrator Rebecca Elliott. In this episode, Rebecca talks with host Suzanne McCabe about the runaway success of Owl Diaries and Eva the Owlet, the upcoming adaptation from Apple TV+.


Rebecca will be participating in this year’s World Read Aloud Day, which takes place on February 1. For the past 13 years, World Read Aloud Day has called attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read aloud. The global effort, created by the nonprofit Lit World and sponsored by Scholastic, is celebrated annually in more than 173 countries.


This year, for the first time, there will be a live read-a-thon featuring Rebecca and several other favorite Scholastic authors, including Dav Pilkey and Brian Selznick. “Many studies have shown the educational benefits of children reading aloud,” Rebecca says. “But that’s not the main reason you should read aloud. The main reason is it’s fun, and it’s about sharing stories. To be human is to want to share stories.”


→ Resources
Rebecca Elliott: Learn more about the best-selling author.


Eva the Owlet: The spirited narrator of Owl Diaries gets her own animated show.


World Read Aloud Day: Download the “WRAD-a-thon” schedule and instructions.


100 Best Read-Aloud Books: Check out this list of favorite read-alouds for young readers.


→ Highlights
Rebecca Elliott, author, Owl Diaries
“Eva Wingdale—she’s a creative and adventurous owlet, and she lives in Treetopolis next to her best friend, Lucy…. She’s got a little brother and an older brother who can be a bit of a pain sometimes, and her parents. She goes to Treetop Owlementary School with her friends. She just gets up to lots of adventures.”
“Owls obviously are all around us. In fact, I can hear owls most nights here. But you rarely ever see them, so you can almost imagine that owls have a secret world, where they do go to school, and they do speak to each other on their Pinecone phones.”


“Kids will smell a moral a mile off. [But] if you can impart some sort of tiny life lessons in a fun way, then why not.”


“I wrote the kind of book that I would have wanted to read when I was eight or nine. Maybe that’s why it worked…. I was obsessed with animals and nature, but also, of course, being that age, obsessed with my friends, my family. I loved starting clubs.”


“Eva is always starting clubs, too. Family and friends should always be the most important thing at that age. It’s everything. But if you can get in some fantastical adventure—of course, the main characters fly. They’re like superheroes.”


“Every chapter ends on some sort of cliffhanger, so it makes [readers] want to pick up the book the next time.”


“I hear from lots and lots of parents, [saying], ‘My child has learning difficulties. My child has dyslexia. Or my child is a reluctant reader. And it was Owl Diaries that got them reading every night, and now we look forward to story time.’”


“Eva the Owlet, based on the Owl Diaries series, will be released on Friday, March 31, in over 100 countries. I have seen a tiny bit of it, and it’s just amazing how they’ve brought my illustrations to life. It’s 3-D. It’s beautiful. It’s funny. It’s fun. It’s fast-paced. It’s cute as anything, and they still got the diary-writing element in. Obviously, I like it because it’s based on my books, but it’s such a classy show. The girl who voices Eva is just an incredible talent.”


“Many studies have shown the educational benefits of children reading aloud—vocabulary, comprehension, understanding what they’re reading, and confidence in their own voice. Reading aloud just affirms the