Skip to footer

James Patterson donates 'Middle School' books to New York City sixth-graders

Sixth-graders at more than 300 New York City public schools will have Patterson's book 'Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life' made available to them.

'Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life' is by James Patterson.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Many sixth-graders in New York City may be found reading about James Patterson’s middle school-age hero Rafe Khatchadorian this summer.

The bestselling author is reportedly donating about 45,000 copies of his book “Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life” to sixth-graders in New York City public schools, according to New York Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina.

According to Farina, the amount of books being donated means that sixth-graders at more than 300 schools will have “Middle School” made available to them. The books will go to schools before the end of the school year so the students will have them over the summer.

“We know that in the long-term summer reading is critical in enabling our students to succeed both in and out of the classroom, and this donation will help do just that,” Farina said, according to Reuters. 

Patterson also recently gave more than 28,000 books to Chicago students.

“I love New York City, and I'm so delighted to be sharing this gift of books and reading with the city's sixth graders,” the author said in a statement, according to USA Today.

Patterson’s book “Middle School,” the first in a series, was released in 2011. The series reached six books with the arrival of “Middle School: Save Rafe!,” which was published this month.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to James Patterson donates 'Middle School' books to New York City sixth-graders
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2014/0624/James-Patterson-donates-Middle-School-books-to-New-York-City-sixth-graders
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe