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Ed. Magazine

On My Bookshelf: Lecturer Gretchen Brion-Meisels

Gretchen Brion-Meisels shares what’s she’s reading.
Gretchen Brion-Meisels

CURRENTLY READING: Tonight, I read Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters to my son, Julian.

THE THING THAT DREW YOU TO IT: These days, the majority of books that I read are children’s books. When I looked at my son’s bookshelf tonight, I realized that I’d never read this one, and I needed a little Obama in my evening.

FAVORITE BOOK FROM CHILDHOOD AND WHY YOU LOVED IT: In high school, my favorite book was Beloved. (Does that count as childhood?) I have always been drawn to books about the history of racism in the United States because of my own positionality. Also, the last three pages of Beloved are some of the most beautiful and poignant writing I’ve ever come across.

IF YOU WERE TO GIVE A BOOK AS A GIFT TO SOMEONE, WHAT WOULD IT BE, WHO WOULD IT BE FOR, AND WHY? I just bought the book Love, by Matt de la Peña, for my daughter, Izzy. My friend Carla, who always has the best book suggestions, suggested it. Carla’s book, Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children in School, is also amazing; I would gift that to anyone working in schools.

BOOK YOU RECOMMEND TO PARENTS TO HELP THEM BETTER UNDERSTAND THEIR KIDS: If parents are trying to understand their kids, I recommend that they take them out for a meal or go on a long drive and just listen. When I’m trying to understand my own kids, I read the Honest Toddler blog.

LAST BOOK YOU READ THAT SURPRISED YOU AND WHY: What Makes a Baby. It is an amazing children’s book that describes conception and childbirth without using any gender pronouns. Reading it with my own children was a gift.

YOUR READING RITUALS: I am easily distracted, so I read best while walking! Given the dangers of this approach, I try to listen to books on tape whenever possible.

FAVORITE SPOT TO CURL UP WITH A GOOD BOOK: The couch.

NEXT UP: Just Research in Contentious Times: Widening the Methodological Imagination by Michelle Fine. I know, surprising that it’s not a children’s book!

Ed. Magazine

The magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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