Scholastic Book Fairs Under Fire for Excluding Diverse Titles

Scholastic, the children's book publisher, has announced that its elementary-school book fairs will now have a separate section for titles that deal with race, gender, and sexuality in response to state laws that restrict discussions on these subjects in schools. The "Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice" catalog includes 64 titles, such as biographies of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and civil rights leader John Lewis. Schools can choose to include or exclude these books, and some schools in all 50 states have already ordered titles from the catalog. Scholastic opposes the state laws but acknowledges the difficulty of navigating the legal environment.