This week I welcome Alan Gratz to the show. We'll be talking about his latest #1 New York Times bestselling young adult novel, Two Degrees and the controversy over the Kutztown Area School District's canceling their "One Book, Once School" middle school program that was set to read Two Degrees. Why did they cancel reading his book? It's a familiar story of right-wing extremism infecting our schools. Right-wing members on the school board and in the community objected to reading a book that accepted the reality and the threats posed by climate change.
On April 15th, Gratz will be one of the Featured Speakers at the 25th Annual Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference. In the wake of the decision by the Kutztown Area School District to cancel their "One School, One Book" program, he made extra time to meet with the community while in town. He will be doing two events at Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown on April 15th as well. At the evening event, he will be interviewed by Joslyn Diffenbaugh, founder of the local Teen Banned Book Club. Details for the events can be found on Firefly Bookstore's Facebook page and through the links in the show notes.
Alan Gratz is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels and graphic novels for young readers, including Two Degrees, Captain America: The Ghost Army, Ground Zero, Refugee, Allies, Prisoner B-3087, and Ban This Book. A Knoxville, Tennessee native, Alan is now a full-time writer living in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife and daughter. Learn more about him online at www.alangratz.com.
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Don’t Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community-rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.
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