Amanda Gorman Instagram – Like many authors, I was heartbroken when @scholastic Book Fair announced that it has created a separate diversity book case, “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice,” which permits schools to decide whether those books will be accessible at their fairs. My book, Change Sings, a #1 NYT best-seller illustrated by the award-winning Loren Long, was one of these books. It took me a while to sit in what felt like a betrayal. As an elementary student, for weeks I’d save every single penny I had for the Scholastic Book Fair, because it felt like a free place that invited me to explore and choose for myself what books I wanted to read, what worlds I wanted to access, what stories I could finally find myself reflected within. It was one of the magical moments that made me want to write books for children in the first place. But the true depth of my disappointment came when I read about all the amazing, impactful books—predominantly by Black, brown, queer, and disabled authors—that won’t make it into the schools because there is now a clear pathway for prohibiting them from general access. I understand that Scholastic made this decision in response to the skyrocketing rise of book bans, which complicates making some books available. But self-censoring the stories we need now more than ever is NOT the answer. And it certainly doesn’t feel like sharing every story—it feels like treating our stories as separate but equal.   As weird as it felt to post about something as simple as books in these chaotic and violent times, I truly believe that stories are where we access each other’s humanity in times of darkness. Scholastic, there are more options than this. I implore you to strategize a new way forward that does not prohibit or punish the stories written by diverse voices. And I also ask anyone reading this who agrees with me—help us fight this story at its root—legislation—by visiting pen.org/action @penamerica for more action we all can take for these stories we love 💛📚