Introducing: Book Boosts!

Friends —

It’s Friday, and I want to try something new.

Some context.

I’m a big reader — I read 50-60 books a year on average — and I’m thankful for a lifetime of burying my nose in everything from historical fiction to far-out sci-fi, presidential biographies and philosophical mind-melters, books about wars and whales and trees and monks and comforting mantras.

But long-form reading is under threat on every front: at school and public libraries, at home, and by screen time explicitly designed to game and destroy your attention spans.

At every stop, we’ve made it harder for kids to read, to put themselves in someone else’s shoes (or lack thereof), to go on a journey, to understand how we got here, the mistakes we made, the injustices we’ve atoned for and the ones we’re still making, the possibilities ahead of us if we preserve and nourish their ability to think critically, to be inspired by and model their behavior on real heroes of the past and imaginary ones in galaxies far, far away.

We’ve spent the past couple years collecting and sharing lists of our favorite books, and making it easy for you to peruse, buy them, and support local bookstores through our partners at Bookshop.

Today, we’re introducing Book Boosts.

Every month (or…I don’t know, every few weeks? Quarter? whatever) we’re going to share exactly one book with you.

Your job:

1. Buy at least one copy of that book from Bookshop, and

2. Gift it to a local public or school library, youth group, sports team, student council association, whatever. You get the idea.

3. Post a pic of you with the book on Instagram and tag us at @wcid.earth.

Want to buy two copies? Great.

Want to buy twenty? Super great. Flood the zone. Fuck book bans.

Sometimes we’ll recommend a new book, or a book that’s coming soon (pre-sales are everything!).

Sometimes it’ll be a classic specifically designed for a moment in time, calling out to be re-circulated among a new generation.

Our first Book Boosts

Today we’re actually recommending two books, because how dare you insist I follow the guidelines we literally just described above? YOLOOOO

Anyways, we chose these two books because they’re new, of the moment, and I think really do compliment each other.

An Immense World: Young Readers Edition

By Ed Yong, adapted by Annmarie Anderson, illustrated by Rebecca Mills

Two reasons:

1. I’m far from alone here: Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong has had more impact on my work and my empathy than almost anyone in the last five years.

2. A little while back, I had the most important twenty minute call of my career. It was hosted by the fine folks at Sesame Street and a few other “science communicators”, and we talked about how to better express how important and nourishing relationships with nature can be to young children. I owe everything to Sesame Street, and if that call is the most I ever do, so be it.

The OG version of An Immense World (here) remains wonderful, but I’m delighted that this incredible new version for young readers exists.

True story: Last night, I ripped open the box and handed the copy above to my 9 year old and 30 seconds later he screamed down the stairs, “DID YOU KNOW SNAKES HAVE GPS WITH THEIR TONGUES AND DOGS ARE TIME MACHINES?!?!” and then scurried back to bed.

Whether or not the kids in your area have reliable access to the natural world, An Immense World will help transport them and build appreciation and empathy for the world around them.

👉 Buy One Copy Here ($23)

When We’re In Charge: The Next Generation’s Guide to Leadership

By Amanda Litman

No one has guested more on our TMIQ podcast than Amanda — the co-founder of Run for Something — and for good reason. Few humans have done more to draft the next generation of leadership into action (while giving birth to two of her own young people along the way).

This irreverent “no bullshit” guide, candidly culled from Amanda’s own experience and convos with 100+ other young leaders — is targeted to existing and new-era leaders, but even I loved it, and I am Methuselah.

It his sincere and funny and includes real-time, practical wisdom on bringing your “real” self to work, social media do’s and don’ts, four-day work weeks, transparency, and more.

If you’re unaware: For almost ten years, RFS has exclusively recruited and supported state and local candidates under 40 years old, so aside from Amanda, very, very, very few leaders have the chops to write a how-to guide.

👉 Buy One Copy Here ($26)

I firmly believe that anyone — of whatever age, but especially impressionable young people who are still curious but also furious at the rest of us — who spends time with both of these books will come away with a much clearer understanding of what’s left to fight for, and how to start and run an operation that can do so (and without burning the fuck out everyone who gets involved).

So. There’s 50,000 of you out there.

Not all of you can afford one book to give away right now, much less two, or twenty, but if you can (and want to support independent bookstores along the way), understand: nothing — nothing — has the power of someone reading the right book at just the right time.

We spend a lot of energy making sure we only recommend Action Steps that will truly move the needle, and Book Boosts undoubtedly one of those. It’s Compound Action at work, hand-delivered by you to a middle school librarian who could really use some goddamn good news right now.

So that’s it. Book Boosts. Is that the name we’re gonna stick with? Maybe? Who can know.

— Quinn

PS: Got recommendations? Send them over for future consideration!