There are so many children and young adult literature champions in our world and I’ve got to spend a few minutes here to share another one that, although I’ve heard a lot about, never got a chance to really understand his project until now – Jarred Amato. Jared Amato is a high school English teacher in Nashville, TN and after reading about book deserts – areas where kids don’t have access to libraries and bookstores, he brought it to his classroom and Project LIT Community was born. Project LIT Community is a grassroots literacy movement reaching students across the U.S. “to increase access to high-quality, culturally relevant books and promote a love of reading in our community” through both book discussions and service projects. This year’s booklist includes the following titles: 2018-19 ProjectLIT Middle Grade Book Club Selections Ghost Boys (Jewell Parker Rhodes) Sunny (Jason Reynolds) I am Alfonso Jones (Tony Medina) Amal Unbound (Aisha Saeed) Rebound (Kwame Alexander) Like Vanessa (Tami Charles) The Stars Beneath Our Feet (David Barclay Moore) Time Bomb (Joelle Charbonneau) Wishtree (Katherine Applegate) Amina’s Voice (Hena Khan) The First Rule of Punk (Celia C. Perez) The Parker Inheritance (Varian Johnson) 2018-19 ProjectLIT Young Adult Book Club Selections The Poet X (Elizabeth Acevedo) When I Was the Greatest (Jason Reynolds) Born a Crime (Trevor Noah) Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson) Tradition (Brenden Kiely) The 57 Bus (Dashka Slater) Allegedly (Tiffany Jackson) Odd One Out (Nic Stone) Pride (Ibi Zoboi) Children of Blood and Bone (Tomi Adeyemi) I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Erika L. Sanchez) Dread Nation (Justina Ireland) On the Come Up (Angie Thomas) There’s so much more you can learn about how to become a Project LIT chapter by checking out their Twitter account or submit an application through their Google Form. The project grew so fast they don’t have a website, but they are working on putting one together, so for the best way to learn more is to check out their Project LIT chats on Twitter. You can also check out the awesome interview between Corrina Allen and Jarred Amato on the Books Between podcast! (And I’m totally going to read the titles on these lists that I haven’t gotten to yet! Yay for an even longer TBR list!)