Election Day

There are candidates and in-depth profiles. There are Q&As and fact sheets available to the public. Campaign slogans pepper the halls and signs bearing a name have appeared in doorways. There are promises made and super PACs being formed. There are devotees and undecideds. There are commercials and hashtags and celebrity endorsements. "Who are you voting for?" is the hottest topic of lunchtime conversation.

It's an election year, after all.

But for one week, at our middle school in Massachusetts, it was about a book.

Like so many things in our CRL existence, this started as an accident. We couldn't decide on a book for our annual school-wide read.

Then it dawned on us: it's 2020. Let's have the kids vote!

Three candidates were announced last week, and Monday our middle schoolers will vote for the All In! 2020 title. The reveal is set for Tuesday morning.

So before the assembly and likely technical difficulties, before any schedule changes and ordering snafus, before the numbers start rolling in and we start paying way too much attention to who is reading and who is not, we're taking a moment to celebrate.

Because for one week, it was about a book.