The issue we've all been waiting for has finally arrived!

This special32 page issue of READ now features Writing magazine as an 8 page addendum. All the great content of READ, plus Writing. Look forward to having Writing magazine attached to READ beginning next school year!

Our theme for this issue is "The Faces of US." READ takes a look at the many cultures and ethnicities that fill up the American classroom.

Our Center Stage play discusses one student's battle to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, AK, in 1957. Adapted by Audra Pace, Warriors Don't Cry is Melba Pattillo Beals' memoir of her challenges and experiences in this integral part of the Civil Rights movement.

"Kim Chee and Yellow Peril" is an essay from a young writer, Jenny S. Kim,  who shares her experiences growing up Korean-American.

This issue's LSI studies magical realism in the poem "Refugio's Hair," by Alberto Ríos.

And READ is proud to present a chapter from Sherman Alexie's new novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  This novel is the 2007 winner of the National Book Award. Our excerpt, "How to Fight Monsters", takes a look at a Native American boy's first day at a new school.

The Writing section features an interview with the Warrior herself, Melba Pattillo Beals. 

Debbie Nevins provides a Grammar Slammer entitled  "Say it, Don't SCREAM IT!!!!!!!" This is a quick lesson in the "less-is-more" approach to exclamation points.

Finally, Alicia Zadrozny contributes an article about life and culture in her East Harlem neighborhood in "At Home in My World."