The Kindle Classroom Project is proud to announce that we are now Pageturner, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Pageturner will continue to catalyze young people’s curiosity and independence by connecting them with an unlimited library of digital books.
“When I started the project in 2011, it was an experiment in trying to get my students more interested in independent reading,” said Mark Isero, Founder and Executive Director.
The experiment paid off. Since our beginning with just two Kindle e-readers, we have received more than 4,000 donated Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets to be distributed to young people in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
Our focus is working with teachers and students at urban schools in the San Francisco Bay area. Providing unlimited access to the books students want to read is at the heart of our mission. We do not choose books for our young readers – they do. According to Mark, “encouraging independent reading helps inspire our students to become lifelong readers, and that is our ultimate goal.”
A former student recently wrote, “Thank you for bringing the Kindle project to my school. I read more than 500 books in my four years there. I’m about to get a new Kindle to continue my reading and explore more. Thank you for such a great experience. You helped me love reading!”
The financial and equipment donations we receive from supporters across the country are what have made available 3,000 books to the 1,350 students participating in the program this year. Thank you for your continuing support!
For more information about supporting Pageturner and the reading lives of young people, please contact us or visit our website.
The Highlighter features four great articles every week. But which are most popular among loyal readers? Here were the five most popular articles of 2020. Please enjoy!
Jesmyn Ward: “My Beloved died in January. He was a foot taller than me and had large, beautiful dark eyes and dexterous, kind hands. He fixed me breakfast and pots of loose-leaf tea every morning. He cried at both of our children’s births, silently, tears glazing his face. Before I drove our children to school in the pale dawn light, he would put both hands on the top of his head and dance in the driveway to make the kids laugh. He was funny, quick-witted, and could inspire the kind of laughter that cramped my whole torso. He traveled with me often on business trips, carried our children in the back of lecture halls, watchful and quietly proud as I spoke to audiences, as I met readers and shook hands and signed books. He indulged my penchant for Christmas movies, for meandering trips through museums, even though he would have much preferred to be in a stadium somewhere, watching football. One of my favorite places in the world was beside him, under his warm arm, the color of deep, dark river water.” (10 min) (Issue #259)
Nikole Hannah-Jones: “If Black lives are to truly matter in America, this nation must move beyond slogans and symbolism. Citizens don’t inherit just the glory of their nation, but its wrongs too. A truly great country does not ignore or excuse its sins. It confronts them and then works to make them right. If we are to be redeemed, if we are to live up to the magnificent ideals upon which we were founded, we must do what is just. It is time for this country to pay its debt. It is time for reparations.” (39 min) (Issue #249)
At the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, where the first American outbreak of the coronavirus killed 46 people, 85-year-old Twilla and 98-year-old Helen shared Room 10. This big, well-written article poignantly tells their story, revealing not only our lack of preparation for the pandemic but also our lack of care for the elderly, who account for more than a quarter of total COVID-related deaths. You’ll root for Helen, rage against the nursing home industry, and wonder why we’re so callous toward our country’s most vulnerable. (71 min) (Issue #259)
Americans love freedom. But we don’t agree on a common definition. There are three types of freedom, according to sociologist Orlando Patterson: personal freedom (to do as we please), civic freedom (to participate in public life), and sovereign freedom (to exercise power over others). According to Jefferson Cowie, this third type of freedom — “the unrestrained capacity to dominate” — is the most dangerous, given our country’s racism.
Prof. Cowie writes, “Freedom was used to steal land from Native Americans, defend slavery, defeat Reconstruction, justify lynching, fight the New Deal, oppose civil rights, elect Trump, and label Black Lives Matter as seditious.”
The only way for all Americans to achieve equality, Prof. Cowie argues, is for white people to stop presuming that freedom means the right to dominate everyone else. (14 min) (Issue #263)
Wade Davis: “In a dark season of pestilence, COVID has reduced to tatters the illusion of American exceptionalism. At the height of the crisis, with more than 2,000 dying each day, Americans found themselves members of a failed state, ruled by a dysfunctional and incompetent government largely responsible for death rates that added a tragic coda to America’s claim to supremacy in the world.
As they stare into the mirror and perceive only the myth of their exceptionalism, Americans remain almost bizarrely incapable of seeing what has actually become of their country.
The republic that defined the free flow of information as the life blood of democracy, today ranks 45th among nations when it comes to press freedom. In a land that once welcomed the huddled masses of the world, more people today favor building a wall along the southern border than supporting health care and protection for the undocumented mothers and children arriving in desperation at its doors. In a complete abandonment of the collective good, U.S. laws define freedom as an individual’s inalienable right to own a personal arsenal of weaponry, a natural entitlement that trumps even the safety of children.” (19 min) (Issue #256)
We did it, loyal readers. Somehow, despite this intense, grueling, unsparing year, our reading community has gotten stronger, thanks to your unwavering support. Thank you for coming back Thursday after Thursday, for reading the 200 articles I put in front of you, and for making this newsletter bigger and better.
Here are a few highlights from the year:
We grew by hundreds of new subscribers
Our esteemed VIPs doubled and our coffee supporters tripled
Article Club launched (and it’s pretty great) with Jia Tolentino, Paul Tough, Hafizah Geter, and other great authors
Now it’s time to reveal the best four articles of the year: my favorite three, followed by your favorite. Are you ready? Can you predict them? Do we need a fancy award ceremony? (Wait, this gives me an idea, actually.) I’m really pleased with this year’s winners. The selection process was rigorous. After scanning all 200 articles, I chose 18 semifinalists, reread them all, and then by equal parts sheer will and brute force, got the list down to the best of the best. They’re outstanding, and I hope you enjoy (re)reading them.
This is the last issue of 2020. Over the next few weeks, amid all the hubbub of the holidays, I plan on reading, resting, and reflecting, and I hope you are able to do the same. Thank you again, and see you in a few weeks!
Nikole Hannah-Jones: “If Black lives are to truly matter in America, this nation must move beyond slogans and symbolism. Citizens don’t inherit just the glory of their nation, but its wrongs too. A truly great country does not ignore or excuse its sins. It confronts them and then works to make them right. If we are to be redeemed, if we are to live up to the magnificent ideals upon which we were founded, we must do what is just. It is time for this country to pay its debt. It is time for reparations.” (39 min)
+ Back in July, VIP Telannia reached out and asked if we could co-host a meet-up about this article. Absolutely! After the event, the group wanted to meet again — and continues to meet regularly, focusing now on helping to pass HR 40, a bill to study and develop proposals for reparations.
+ This is the second time Ms. Hannah-Jones has written one of the best articles of the year. Last year, her essay on The 1619 Project won top prize.
After recovering from a traumatic brain injury when he was 22 years old, Andy Swanson started hearing things at home: creaky footsteps in the hallway, stray voices in the closet. When his dad showed up, concerned, Andy’s first words were, “There’s someone in the room with us.” The chandelier in the room flickered on its own.
This article, told from the point of view of his little brother, Barrett, explores Andy’s developing identity as a psychic and a medium. Most of all, though, this is a story of two brothers, their relationship, and their trip one summer to Lily Dale, New York, where every year, 20,000 Spiritualists gather to perform readings, conduct seances, and build community.
At the retreat, Barrett notices his brother’s rising confidence and sense of calm. But he’s also aware of his own uneasiness, acknowledges his history of depression, and recounts an incident from his past, when his big brother’s powers may have saved his life. (44 min)
+ Mr. Swanson joined Article Club in May to discuss his outstanding piece. He was delightful, thoughtful, and appreciative. Part of the Article Club experience is that authors sometimes join our discussions. It’s pretty great.
I have this joke that I’m going to quit my job to open up a scone store, but otherwise, I’m no baker, nor do I have dreams of moving to France to apprentice at a boulangerie. Good thing Bill Buford did, because in this beautiful story, we get to meet Bob the baker from Lyon, learn his secrets to making delicious baguettes (answer: the flour), and realize that the meaning of life may come down to food, family, le goût et les valeurs. (33 min)
+ Few people read this extraordinary piece, published early in the pandemic, before everyone began baking bread, but its poignant sentimentality kept me thinking about it for the whole year.
Jesmyn Ward: “My Beloved died in January. He was a foot taller than me and had large, beautiful dark eyes and dexterous, kind hands. He fixed me breakfast and pots of loose-leaf tea every morning. He cried at both of our children’s births, silently, tears glazing his face. Before I drove our children to school in the pale dawn light, he would put both hands on the top of his head and dance in the driveway to make the kids laugh. He was funny, quick-witted, and could inspire the kind of laughter that cramped my whole torso. He traveled with me often on business trips, carried our children in the back of lecture halls, watchful and quietly proud as I spoke to audiences, as I met readers and shook hands and signed books. He indulged my penchant for Christmas movies, for meandering trips through museums, even though he would have much preferred to be in a stadium somewhere, watching football. One of my favorite places in the world was beside him, under his warm arm, the color of deep, dark river water.” (10 min)
Were my favorite articles your favorite ones, too? Or would you like to stage a protest? Please vote using the thumbs below. Or hit reply and tell me your thoughts. Also, thank youfor reading this week’s issue of The Highlighter — and for reading The Highlighter all the year through. I hope you enjoyed it.
Also, let’s welcome our reading community’s two new subscribers, Rabani and Terri. I hope that you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. Also, thank you, loyal reader Minnie,for spreading the cheer.
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