Books for Native American Heritage Month

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month this November, Penguin Random House Education is highlighting the stories of our authors who represent the Indigenous Experience. Using #StoriesoftheLand, #NativeAmericanbooks, and #Indigenousreads, join us in putting a spotlight on the rich and diverse stories showcasing the important contributions and experiences of Native people. Here is a selection

Read more

Teaching Black and Asian American Solidarity in the Classroom

By Brian Batugo Student posters celebrating Black and Asian American solidarity. Photo credit: Brian Batugo   Asian American history must be included in the broader context of US history, especially given the increase in hate crimes and incidents resulting from xenophobic and racist rhetoric that falsely blamed the Asian American community for the coronavirus. Catherine

Read more

Do You Teach World History?

You can search for books across this discipline through our course lists, which cover 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Century World History, Ancient, Medieval, and Prehistory. Here is a small selection of the books available:   18th Century World History 19th Century World History 20th Century World History 21st Century World History Ancient Medieval Prehistory

Read more

We celebrate the 20th anniversary of Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner

Dear Educator, Teachers from across the country have written to me in the past year, facing pressure because they teach Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. In some cases, their jobs were being threatened over their decision to bring this seminal book into their classrooms. That’s where the idea for this kit came from: to

Read more

Mónica Guzmán, author of Elon University’s 2023 common reading selection promotes human connection, engagement

By Camryn Banks Mónica Guzmán, author of I Never Thought of it That Way sat down with Elon News Network ahead of her lecture on Sept. 21   Photo by Max Wallace | Elon News Network Mónica Guzmán, author of Elon University’s 2023-24 Common Reading book: I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly

Read more

A Letter from Raul Palma, author of A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens

Dear Reader, A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens began in Nebraska. I remember that I was trying to nap, more from despair than exhaustion, but all I could think was: How did I get here—so far from Miami and in such debt? I was a third-year PhD student, writing stories and studying abstract theories while my

Read more

FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink’s Writing for Busy Readers

Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink offer the most valuable practical writing advice today. Building on their own research in behavioral science, they outline cognitive facts about how people actually read and distill them into six principles that will transform the power of one’s writing: Less is more Make reading easy Design for easy navigation Use

Read more

FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Esau McCaulley’s How Far to the Promised Land

After his father’s death, Esau McCaulley went back through his family history, seeking to understand the community that shaped him: someone who, through hard work, faith, and determination, overcame childhood poverty, anti-Black racism, and an absent father to earn a job as a university professor and a life in the middle class. With profound honesty

Read more

FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Philippe Sands’The Last Colony

The Last Colony is the moving, inspiring David-and-Goliath true story of freedom and justice involving one tiny nation in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, and the extraordinary woman, a descendant of enslaved people, who dared to take on the Crown and the United Kingdom—and win a historic victory.   Part One 1945

Read more

FROM THE PAGE: An Excerpt from Prosanta Chakrabarty’s Explaining Life Through Evolution

Explaining Life through Evolution tells the origin story of life on this planet and how we arrived at the tremendous diversity among organisms that we see around us today. In the excerpt below, Prosanta Chakrabarty emphasizes the importance of understanding evolution in everyday contemporary life.   Our Genealogy and Ancestry Why should you care about

Read more

FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Robert D. Kaplan’s The Loom of Time

From The Revenge of Geography author Robert D. Kaplan, The Loom of Time is a stunning exploration of the Greater Middle East, where lasting stability has often seemed just out of reach but may hold the key to the shifting world order of the twenty-first century.   Chapter 1 Time and Terrain Between Europe and the

Read more