Every moment of every day, our attention is the subject of a battle. As adults, we struggle to focus on the 'right' things—so how can we expect our kids to? With this in mind, capturing and holding young readers’ attention is a key focus for Katherine Marsh in her books. But she’s determined to do so without sacrificing intellectual depth. 

Striking this balance has become her mission: to keep readers on the edge of their seats, while delivering something meaningful. To achieve that, she draws on her journalism background and the early influence of her grandmother’s captivating stories from Ukraine.

Katherine Marsh is an award-winning author best known for her novels “The Night Tourist,” “Nowhere Boy,” and “The Lost Year,” a National Book Award finalist for young people’s literature. Her stories often unfold against the backdrop of the harsh, historical, or present realities, but as she notes, all of her stories are also mysteries. They have always had that hook! Her work has earned her several honors in addition to being a National Book Award finalist, including the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, along with being a New York Times notable selection.

In this episode, Katherine explores ways to address the setback in children's reading caused by the pandemic and dives into her article on the topic for The Atlantic. Katherine also recounts a jarring story passed down to her and considers the profound role of the story in raising her. She also reflects on how her time as a journalist has impacted how she approaches that craft of storytelling.

Fun fact about Katherine: we attended the same high school! In fact, so did my script editor, Josia. It was a boarding school where we all did not know one another but shared the experience of being atypical students. Because of that coincidence and the fact that, as Katherine says, “kids love boarding school stories,” she curated her reading challenge, "Boarding School Ties,” which includes books that all take place in or are about boarding schools.  

Learn more and download Katherine’s recommended reading list at thereadingculturepod.com/katherine-marsh.

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This episode's Beanstack Featured Librarian is Ms. Mari Martinez, an assistant manager and librarian at Broward County Library. She tells us that sometimes the best strategy for the library... is to get out of the library!

Chapter 1 - Stories From Grandma

Chapter 2 - The Joy of Being Bored

Chapter 3 - Our Animal Friends at Maple Farm

Chapter 4 - Cutting Through the Noise

Chapter 5 - A Diverse Diet

Chapter 6 - The Kids Are (Sort of) All Right

Chapter 7 - Boarding School Ties

Chapter 8 - Beanstack Featured Librarian 

Host: Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Producers: Jackie Lamport  and Lower Street Media

Script Editors: Josia Lamberto-Egan, Jackie Lamport, Jordan Lloyd Bookey