Anonymous Donor Contributes $150,000 to Words Alive

SAN DIEGO, California (January 21, 2021) – San Diego nonprofit Words Alive has received a $150,000 donation from an anonymous philanthropist to support efforts to connect children, teens, and families to the power of reading.

Words Alive Executive Director Rachael Orose says funds will support Words Alive’s ongoing response to the devastating educational impacts on the children, teens, and families stemming from the pandemic.

“As everything closed last March, we pivoted to a virtual platform for our programs because we knew the power of reading could help families cope with all of the changes resulting from the pandemic. I am humbled by the outpouring of support from the San Diego community that has allowed us to sustain this life-changing work, and am struck speechless by this incredibly generous gift,” said Orose.

At the start of the pandemic, Words Alive transitioned two decades of proven classroom-based literacy programming to be delivered remotely while schools remain closed.  Mobilizing more than 1,000 global volunteers, the organization has empowered tens of thousands of educators and parents with virtual content to use the power of reading and writing to help families contend with the pandemic. In addition to supporting teachers, the organization has given away more than 20,000 books and educational resources, and their free, online content for children and teens has been accessed more than 250,000 times.

“Now, more than ever, reading is a skillset for survival. This astounding gift enables us to continue to prioritize literacy and the critical role it plays in helping youth and families cope with, and emerge stronger from, the pandemic,” Orose says.

Founded in 1999, Words Alive connects children, teens, and families with the power of reading. Words Alive provides access to relevant and quality books, shared reading experiences, and a connection to reading that lays the foundation for continued success. Their efforts were recently applauded in a Publishers Weekly feature on the organization: https://bit.ly/3igm0mg

To learn more about Words Alive visit: www.WordsAlive.org.

The Words Alive Reader: January 20, 2021

Welcome to The Words Alive Reader, a regular newsletter keeping you up-to-date with the latest in how we've been connecting children, teens, and families to the power of reading. What have we been up to and how can you help? Read on to find out!

This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of volunteers! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love your help! Email to learn more.

- Zoe, Eli, Nia and Titiksha, Words Alive Storytelling Team

Farmers is Matching the Next $5,000 Raised

A graphic that says “Become a Champion for Words Alive This Winter!” above the Champions for Youth logo.

Just announced: Farmers Insurance will be matching the next $5,000 we raise in our campaign! This means that if you give now, your gift will go farther than ever. Not only will a $10 donation become $20, it will also move us ahead in the competition for up to $40,000 in bonus funding from The Century Club of San Diego and Farmers Insurance.

Since December, 22 incredible champions have already helped us engage 253 donors, raising $20,000 of our $30,000 goal! We have two weeks left to raise as much as we can. Donate today to take advantage of the match and make the biggest impact with your gift.

Melinda Wynar, Community Champion

We're proud to announce that Melinda Wynar, one of our volunteers, has recently been recognized by Molina Healthcare as a Community Champion for her leadership and service to our community! Over the last 6 years, Melinda has been a dedicated volunteer for many different Words Alive initiatives, from the Read Aloud Program to the Authors Auction, and her commitment to her community continues to shine through her actions every day. We're so grateful for Melinda! Read more about her in our most recent blog post.

Volunteers Needed: Work Directly with Families and Kids!

A screenshot of one of our programs taking place over Zoom.

Interested in working directly with families and young students? Sign up to help with the Family Literacy Program! Beginning in February, we need small group facilitators to lead activities with families in breakout rooms, English/Spanish bilingual lead facilitators, and volunteers experienced with Zoom to support facilitators and participants during the sessions. Help families build healthy reading habits through sharing and exploring stories together! Email our Volunteer Coordinator, Robyn Grand, if you are interested.

Learning Kits for Monarch School

An image of the supplies going into the kits: colored pencils, scissors, glue sticks, erasers, and more.

We're partnering with Monarch School to create and deliver 350 learning kits to their students! Monarch is a wonderful school here in San Diego that exclusively serves youth experiencing homelessness. 

As part of an all-school reading initiative focused on mental health and well-being students from all grades will receive books and activities, including a guide on how to talk, write, and connect about what they are reading with their families. They will also receive supplies to participate in our upcoming Art & Lit project! We are excited to be working with such a wide range of ages to extend our programming across the whole school. 

Want to support even more students with at-home learning? We need volunteers based in San Diego to help us assemble crafts that accompany the stories children are reading! Email our Volunteer Coordinator, Robyn Grand, to learn more. 

Help Us Provide Books to San Ysidro High School

The covers of the books The Radius of Us by Marie Marquardt, Internment by Samira Ahmed, and The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by West More.

Last week, we officially started an exciting partnership between San Ysidro High School and Words Alive! We are training educators at the school to (virtually) implement Adolescent Book Group at their campus. Through this partnership, we will be engaging 350 high school students with a book-club style discussion of three powerful novels: The Radius of Us, Internment, and The Other Wes Moore.

In order for us to give books to all of the students, we still need 175 copies of each of the three titles. If you would like to provide a high schooler with books they can read, love, and take home to keep, click here. We thank you for your support!

Join Words Alive at This Year’s SDIJFF

A graphic that says “31st annual SDIJFF: February 11-21, 2021; screenings from the comfort of your home.”

Words Alive is excited to announce that we are a community partner for the 31st Annual San Diego International Jewish Film Festival. This year’s festival will include not only over 36 films to enjoy virtually, but also more than 20 on-demand films available from February 11-21, 2021, all from the comfort of your own home. By using our code WORDS21, you can get $2 off an individual ticket purchase at lfjcc.org/film. Invite your friends and family for 11 days of film celebration and festivities. We hope to see you there!

Donate here to support Words Alive!

Plot Twist: Melinda Wynar

This post was created by Ben Hollingshead and Zoe Wong, Words Alive volunteers! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love to have you on the team! Email to learn more.

Meet Words Alive volunteer extraordinaire: Melinda Wynar! Melinda is a retired preschool teacher and senior program activity director who has been a beloved Read Aloud Program volunteer for many years. She has also stepped up to volunteer for several other Words Alive programs whenever we need her!

Melinda is featured as a Community Champion in this video from Molina Healthcare!

She was recently recognized by Molina Healthcare as a Community Champion for her leadership and dedication to our community. Read on to learn about Melinda’s experience reading during the transition to distance learning, her takeaways and proudest accomplishments as a volunteer, and her hopes for our community.   

Melinda’s journey with Words Alive began when she started making plans for her retirement six years ago. “I made a list of all the things that I wanted to do when I retired and things that I enjoy doing,” she says. “And one of them that I always loved to do was to read to kids—it was my favorite thing when I was a preschool teacher many, many years ago.” Starting at the local library, she looked for reading-related volunteer opportunities without much success, until she heard about Words Alive from a friend. She found her way to our website, signed up to volunteer, and has not looked back since. “I just felt embraced by [Words Alive],” Melinda says, describing her first impressions of the organization.”I’ve never felt so well taken care of.” 

Melinda reads aloud to a classroom full of students.

Melinda began reading at Felicita Elementary School in Escondido and has been with the school ever since. Her continued commitment to Felicita means that she has built up strong relationships with teachers and kids over the years. “I’ll walk through the school and other kids that I read with...maybe the year before...will say ‘Oh, there’s the reading lady!'" Melinda says, smiling. “The most rewarding part is just interacting with these amazing teachers and kids,” she says. “It’s amazing how it makes an impression on the kids.” This excited response from the students is what has motivated her to be a tireless volunteer for the past six years.

Melinda and one of her classrooms at Felicita Elementary smile and hold up books.

As schools have moved to virtual learning, she has enthusiastically approached the challenge of reading on Zoom. “It’s tricky,” she laughs. “I'm so used to having the kids close by and being able to have a little more interaction with them.” But she didn’t let a bumpy first meeting stop her. She reached out and began working closely with the teachers to effectively redesign the online sessions, willingly incorporating feedback to optimize the interactive reading experience for her students. “[The teacher] may actually have the kids zoom in on their iPads,” Melinda says, “so that I will see them closer and I can feel a little more interactive with them.”  

She truly loves what she does, which is evident when she describes the books she reads to the kids. Her favorite book to read aloud is The Night Gardener by the Fan Brothers. “It is the most beautifully written and illustrated book; it actually brings tears to my eyes,” she says, describing the story about a magical gardener who creates beautiful topiaries by night. Another favorite is The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, a book about a group of disgruntled crayons who go on strike from coloring.“That book just cracks me up!” she says, smiling.

The cover of The Night Gardener, Melinda's favorite book.

Melinda is honest about the lessons she's learned through her time as a volunteer. "Reading with Words Alive put me in a community I'm not usually associated with," she says. "I definitely had to look at stereotypes or biases that I had about lower income communities or Hispanic communities." Because of her willingness to learn and challenge her own assumptions, her experience as a volunteer has given her a new appreciation for the hopes, aspirations, and struggles of the communities she works with.

Melinda volunteering at a socially-distanced book sorting.

In addition to being a Read Aloud Program volunteer, Melinda has stepped up for many of our other programs, including helping with Readers in the Heights, putting together craft kits, recording read-aloud videos for children with limited home libraries, sorting book donations, and most recently, fundraising on our behalf as a Champion for Youth. But her proudest accomplishment as a volunteer, she says, was recruiting authors to donate their time to the Words Alive Authors Auction. This silent auction allowed participants to bid on virtual visits with published authors, with all proceeds going to Words Alive. “It was very fun getting different authors to sign on,” she says. Through her tireless efforts, twelve more authors volunteered for the auction. “I'm pretty proud about that!” she says.

All of this volunteer work means a lot to Melinda personally. “Retiring is a little terrifying,” she says, laughing. “I was so used to working and being involved in so many different things...I would wake up in the morning, ready to jump out of bed, because I had a definite thing to do.” Now, as a retiree, she says, “What I love about volunteering is it gives me that same sense of purpose.”

Melinda reads to four children as part of Readers in the Heights.

And although she has retired from the workforce, Melinda has never stopped giving back to our community. “What I’m really hoping is that…we can find ways to come together and to find our common humanity,” she says. “Reading is a wonderful part of bringing people together.”

We couldn't agree more! Melinda, thank you for your time and dedication to making our community a better place.

January Page Turner of the Month

Every month we like to highlight one of our superstar Page Turners. This month we are honoring two! The newest additions to our Page Turners team- our interns!

our January Page Turners of the Month Are…

Ashlie Morrison and Shanaya Malik

What has been the best book you've read with Page Turners?

The best book that I've read with Page Turners has been Yes No Maybe So, by Aisha Saeed and Becky Albertalli because the two main characters were both minorities, and I appreciated the book's representation of race and culture. I also found that it had discussed politics and other real-world issues while also being a cute romance novel, so it was entertaining as well as educational!

Why did you start reading books with Page Turners and why do you continue?

I started reading books with Page Turners as I thought that having to read books as a form of community service would be a wonderful opportunity considering that I'm a bookworm! I continued because I realized that the books that Words Alive offers are so diverse and open to touching on subjects that schools often don't educate students on, so I liked being able to understand more about life through those books.

How has being a Page Turner changed the way you read or think about reading?

I would say that being a Page Turner has changed the way I read and think about reading in the sense that it has made me more open to learning about different issues in the world and being able to view subjects from a different perspective. I think that Words Alive has allowed me to better understand the importance of diversity and having a willingness to discuss subjects that are important in society and the world.

What has been the best book you've read with Page Turners?

I’d have to say the March Trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. It was really engaging way of seeing the civil rights movement from a current perspective and shows the legacy John Lewis left behind.

Why did you start reading books with Page Turners and why do you continue?

I started reading books with Page Turners because I needed something to do during quarantine! I’ve always loved to read so when I found out there was an organization that needed volunteers to read and review books I jumped at the chance. I’m really glad I did because it has been a rewarding experience!

How has being a Page Turner changed the way you read or think about reading?

Being a Page Turner has helped me expand my perspective. I think most people are drawn to characters which represent them and being a Page Turner has encouraged me to read books with more diverse characters and perspectives, which I’ve really enjoyed!

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Are you part of a key club or organization who wants to develop a project with Page Turners? Email [email protected] to get started!

Are you a book lover who wants to read books for Page Turners?

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2020-2021 Words Alive Westreich Scholars!

This post was written with help from Nia Lewis, a Words Alive volunteer! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love to have you on the team! Email to learn more.

Here at Words Alive, we're incredibly excited to celebrate our Westreich Scholars for the 2020-2021 school year! The Weistreich Scholarship aims to support graduates of our Adolescent Book Group program through the struggles they may face as they pursue their higher education goals. Our scholars for this academic year are Destiny, Andrea, Ulises, Marcia, Esther, and Antonise! We all deserve to pursue our passions through education, and our scholars exemplify how a little support can go a long way.

Andrea, one of our second year Scholars, recently transferred to George Fox University in Oregon to study sociology. She persevered through a difficult home situation during her freshman year and is now thriving at her new school! Andrea first became involved with Words Alive through the Adolescent Book Group at her high school in freshman year, and she became very close with her Words Alive mentor, Sonya, through the Westreich Scholarship program. She continues to stay in touch with the Words Alive team, and she is one of the true embodiments of the goal of this scholarship — to support students so they can flourish in all of their educational plans. You can learn more about her story here.

Even after they graduate from our programs, we know that our scholars continue to make a difference. One of our alumni, Lexi, studied Social Work at San Diego State University and is now a case manager at SAY (Social Advocates for Youth) San Diego! Recently, we were thrilled to work with her to get hundreds of books into the hands of the kids that her organization serves.

All of our scholars continue to prove that within each of us lies a fighter and a conqueror. Each one has had their own unique struggles to overcome, but has learned and grown so much through their determination to successfully transition to higher learning. They are incredible individuals, full of perseverance, passion, and determination. With help from the Words Alive Westreich Scholarship through financial, professional, and mentor support, we are so excited to see what they do in their next chapter.

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Andrea is a returning scholar and a student at George Fox University. She is studying Sociology.

“With the way I grew up, I feel like I could give back in a way with this degree.”

Antonise is a returning scholar and a student at San Diego City College. She is studying Information Security.

“It may be scary, I may stumble along the way but I can’t always waste my life worrying about the what ifs. Helping that student, I acknowledged that fear was my weakness and once knowing that I can grow from this flaw to become a stronger, better me.”

Destiny is a returning scholar and a student at Cal State Bakersfield. She is studying Criminal Justice.

Marcia is a returning scholar and a student at San Diego City College. She is studying Ultrasound Technology.

Esther is a returning scholar and a student at Palomar College. She is studying Sociology.

Ulises is a returning scholar and a student at Point Loma Nazarene University. He is studying Graphic Design with an Illustration Concentration.

“I learned how to handle myself better and how to reach out to friends and mentors. I learned to speak up and ask for help when I need it and not to be ashamed of it.”

December Page Turner of the Month

Every month we like to highlight one of our superstar Page Turners. Our amazing December Page Turner of the Month has read a whopping twentynine books since she first started in August

our December Page Turner of the Month is…

Tejaswini Knanaparthy

1) What has been the best book you've read with Page Turners?

The best book I've read with Page Turners so far is If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth.

2) Why did you start reading books with Page Turners and why do you continue?

My school's Key Club offered reading for Page Turners as a service opportunity, and I was interested in reading many of the books that were under review.

3) How has being a Page Turner changed the way you read or think about reading?

As a Page Turner, I've been able to gain more exposure to literature by analyzing a wide variety of genres of books. In addition to my grammar and critical thinking skills being improved, this has allowed me to really consider new perspectives and relevant issues going on.

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Are you part of a key club or organization who wants to develop a project with Page Turners? Email [email protected] to get started!

Are you a book lover who wants to read books for Page Turners?

The Words Alive Reader: December 18th, 2020

Welcome to The Words Alive Reader, a regular newsletter keeping you up-to-date with the latest in how we've been connecting children, teens, and families to the power of reading. What have we been up to and how can you help? Read on to find out!

This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of volunteers! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love your help! Email our Volunteer Coordinator, Robyn, to learn more.

- Zoe, Eli and Titiksha, Words Alive Storytelling Team

Words Alive Alumni Give Back

A screenshot from a call with some of our Westreich Scholarship alumni! Lexi (top left) has connected us to the organization where she now works.

We are always thrilled about any opportunity to get books to students, but we're especially excited about our new partnership with SAY (Social Advocates for Youth) San Diego because we are working with one of our Westreich Scholarship alumni! Lexi graduated from San Diego State University last year and is now working as a case manager for this wonderful organization. We loved supporting Lexi through her college journey and we're honored to be able to partner with her now! Thanks to this connection, more than 500 kids will be receiving a new book this holiday season. 

Help us develop even more partnerships by purchasing supplies from our Amazon wishlist! Many of these items will go towards innovative programming at Monarch School, Lexi’s alma mater. 

Become a Champion for Youth

A graphic with text that reads “Become a Champion for Words Alive This Winter!” above the “Champions for Youth” logo.

Words Alive is constantly seeking new ways to inspire a love of reading and promote educational equity. Help us reach this goal by signing up to become a part of Words Alive's Champions For Youth campaign!

Champions for Youth is an exciting peer-to-peer fundraising campaign that runs from December through January. When you create a fundraising page, you can inspire your friends and family to invest in the joy of reading. Every $10 you help raise will enable us to provide a bedtime story to a child.

The best part? The funds you raise will be amplified by gifts from Farners Insurance and the Century Club of San Diego. Sign up for an information session here!

Thank You, EY Page Turners!

An infographic titled “EY and Page Turners By the Numbers.” The infographic includes the statistics: 275 book reviews; 28, 334 pages read for Page Turners; 51 titles reviewed including What Color is My World? by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Come On In by Adi Alsaid, and Nino Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales; 546 hours spent reading; 211 Page Turners; and “Want to learn more? Visit us at www.wordsalive.org/page-turners”

We’re excited to say that our partnership with EY has brought 211 new virtual volunteers into our Page Turners program from all across the country! Together, they’ve read more than 28,000 pages and written 275 book reviews to help us identify the best books for our curriculum.

And they've had a great time doing it! "We appreciate the opportunity to live our values by volunteering with you...Thank you for making it so easy for our people to give back during this unprecedented year," the EY Ripples team says. Thank you, EY, for helping us make a difference! 

If you’d like to join them as a Page Turner, visit our website to learn more.

Virtual Family Literacy Program with Oceanside Public Library

A young child draws with colored pencils in a notebook.

Recently, we partnered with the Oceanside Public Library to create a successful fully-remote version of our Family Literacy Program. Eleven families joined us for the virtual course, which pursued a bilingual approach to literacy.

Through books, crafts, and songs in both English and Spanish, families and their preschool children built key early literacy skills—and just as importantly, a love for reading! One of the participating families says their three-year-old is still talking about the program and even reads to his stuffed animals now. We love it!

If you'd like to help us inspire more families to read together, check out our volunteer opportunities here!

1,780 Brand New Books for Kids

A picture of our Executive Director, Rachael, with lots of boxes of donated books!

San Diego showed off the spirit of giving this week, as we received 1,780 books for kids and teens. We want to say a huge thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the San Diego Council on Literacy for their generous donations, and hope you’ll consider joining them. Help us get even more books into kids' hands this holiday season by donating to our Champions for Youth campaign!

Stock Donations

A young child holds up a sign that says “I’m a Summer Super Reader!”

Donating stock to Words Alive is a meaningful investment in our life-changing literacy work! It's a simple process with many benefits:

1. You receive a charitable income-tax deduction for the full fair-market value of the stock at the time of the gift.*

2. You incur no capital gains tax on the increased value of the stock.*

Words Alive has an account at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Your gift must be postmarked by December 31 to qualify for a deduction in that tax year. A stockbroker or trust officer also can arrange for a year-end gift of stock from your account.
To learn more or to make a donation, click here!   

*subject to IRS deduction limits​​​​​​​

Donate here to support Words Alive!

November Page Turner of the Month

Every month we like to highlight one of our superstar Page Turners. Our amazing November Page Turner of the Month has read a whopping twenty nine books since she first started in August.

our November Page Turner of the Month is…

Cheryl Converse-Rath

Thank you Cheryl!

Although she only joined Page Turners in August, Cheryl already stepped into a major role on our BookFinders team. She helps to manage our Page Turners reading list and scout for new books to add to it. It’s the perfect fit for Cheryl, a self-professed “book nerd”.

1) How did you get started with Words Alive?

I signed up as a volunteer tutor with Oasis this year. Because of Covid, the tutoring will be online and had not yet started, I wanted to find some other way to get started. Kristen from Oasis "introduced" me to Jose Cruz from Literacy San Diego. He suggested Words Alive and I am so happy he did!

2) What has been the best book you've read with Page Turners?

So far, I have only read 3 books for Page Turners- 2 elementary and Moxie. I have read several for Words Alive so that I could do 1 pagers for Write Now. Those are Born a Crime, Internment, Anger is a Gift, and The Poet X. Honestly, I have enjoyed them all. With the exception of Born a Crime, which I read a while back, none of them are books I would have read on my own. I thought Anger is a Gift was especially timely for what has been going on in our country.

3) Why did you start volunteering with Page Turners and why do you continue?

I retired from teaching middle school in June. I had planned to get lots of travel in, but then Covid...

I LOVE to read and I also love sharing books, talking about books, writing about books. In case you haven't guessed, I'm a real book nerd! I love the mission of Words Alive and Page Turners. There are so many worlds open to readers- anything I can do to foster that is wonderful!

4) How has spending time volunteering for Page Turners affected what you read or how you think about reading?

I have always loved to read, so it is just a way to continue to look at books for non-adult audiences. I know that having literature where anyone can see themselves is important. I am excited to discover new books that I can share with my teacher friends and friends who are grandparents.

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Are you a book nerd who wants to read book reviews and scout out new books for Page Turners? Attend a volunteer orientation to become a BookFinder!

Want to become a Page Turner? Get started below:

The Words Alive Reader: November 16th, 2020

Welcome to The Words Alive Reader, a regular newsletter keeping you up-to-date with the latest in how we've been connecting children, teens, and families to the power of reading. What have we been up to and how can you help? Read on to find out!

This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of volunteers! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love your help! Email to learn more.

- Zoe, Eli and Titiksha, Words Alive Storytelling Team

Processing the Election With the Power of Writing

Red, blue, and purple word bubbles made of paper spell “Be The Change.”

In our last edition of The Words Alive Reader, we shared about the launch of our virtual Read Aloud Program — we now have 33 classrooms participating! This week, we want to share something else we've been working hard on: Write Now, a digital space for teens to cope and connect with current events through writing.

As emotions run high over everything that's going on in our country right now, we're highlighting several of our Write Now prompts that feel especially fitting for this moment. Use them with your students or children, or try them for yourself. We hope that they empower everyone to reflect and respond in healthy ways to current events. 

Explore positive ways to respond to the news, remember to take a self-compassion news break, and, finally, think about ways to be the change you wish to see in the world.

2020 Authors Event & Fundraiser: Success!

Screenshots of Ayad Akhtar, Dr. Seth Lerer, and an image of Homeland Elegies. Text reads: “Annual Authors Event — Featuring Ayad Akhtar in conversation with Dr. Seth Lerer.”

With an entirely new, online format, this year's Annual Authors Event and Fundraiser was an adventure for all of us! We are grateful for everyone who came together to make this event a success.

More than 250 attendees joined us from all over the country, raising $77,000 to connect children, teens, and families to the power of reading. It brought us so much joy to see our community come together in this way.

If you missed the event, don't worry! You can still support us by purchasing access to the prerecorded conversation between Seth and Ayad through the end of 2020. Thank you for supporting Words Alive! 

Write Now with Susan Meissner

A picture of Susan Meissner in front of posters of her books.

Susan Meissner is an acclaimed author, a San Diego local, a Words Alive volunteer, AND one of the authors in this year's Authors Auction! At our latest Write Now workshop for teen writers, brought to you by Words Alive and the San Diego Public Library, she had plenty of advice for aspiring writers, especially when it comes to tackling the familiar enemy known as writers’ block. “It’s kind of like when you go into a pool, or the ocean, and the water is kind of cold, but stay in it, and your body finally acclimates,” she said. It’s all about persistence!

Find the full workshop, along with other exclusive videos from published authors, on our website!

Plot Twist: Logan Holland

A picture of Logan Holland.

Our volunteers come from all different kinds of backgrounds, proving that great books impact us all. Take Logan Holland, for example: a graduate student in biology at UC San Diego. The lessons she draws from her favorite books go hand-in-hand with her studies. As Logan puts it, “I wanted to understand humans biochemically, and then figuratively with literature.”

To read more about Logan’s unique perspective on the intersection of science and literature, and learn why she volunteers with Words Alive, check out Plot Twist, our new blog series! Keep an eye out for more stories in the future on the Words Alive blog.

Join the Words Alive Page Turners!

Graphic illustrating the “Life Cycle of a Page Turners Book.” Through Page Turners, new books are (1) discovered, (2) read, (3) reviewed, and (4) loved by our program participants!

We launched Page Turners in January so volunteers could help us choose the books we read with our students. Since then, more than 600 volunteers have joined Page Turners, contributing nearly 1,900 hours of service! This has allowed us to add 30 new books into our programming, with the knowledge that students will be engaging with high-quality titles our Page Turners have already read and loved. Some of our students at Monarch School are even reviewing books for Page Turners! Through this program, they're taking ownership of what they read in a very tangible way.

Are you interested in joining a community of passionate readers who are helping us read and review books? Visit our website to learn more.

Donate here to support Words Alive!

Plot Twist: Gayle Early

Welcome to our new blog series, Plot Twist! Here, we'll be sharing the stories of people in the Words Alive community — stories of change, growth, and maybe a few surprising twists! We hope that through these stories, you'll get to know our community a little better and see the power of literacy come to life.

A picture of Gayle.

Meet Gayle Early! Gayle is a freelance writer and new volunteer who found us recently through the Californians For All Summer of Service project. Though she’s only been with Words Alive for a few months, her passion and enthusiasm for our mission overflows from the minute you meet her! In this interview, she shares her experience supporting in-person volunteer opportunities during the pandemic and her desire to share the magic of stories with others. (Note: all in-person volunteering took place earlier in the year, in accordance with county and state guidelines and restrictions. Stay safe!)

Gayle adores reading books of all kinds, which makes volunteering with Words Alive a natural fit. She jokes that she’ll even read the phone book if you let her! Years ago, at a boring dinner party, she opened a volume about the difference between oil- and water-based paints. It was the only book she could find, so she started reading without hesitation. “I was like, ’I can learn something here!’” she remembers, laughing. “If there's a book around, I'll pick it up,” she declares. “When you come to my house, the most I have of any object is books,” she says happily. “I would just give my last nickel for a book at a secondhand store.”

Gayle reading with one of her daughters when she was little.

She made sure to pass on this love of stories and reading to her own children, reading aloud to them even before they were born! She also volunteered as a reading tutor in her daughters’ school, where she found a lot of meaning in helping struggling students learn to enjoy reading. “Stories are magical and books are magic,” Gayle emphasizes. “I wanted to join this organization to have a little bit more of that magic with other kids besides my own.”

And Gayle doesn’t hesitate to turn her passion into action. When we asked for volunteers, her response was simple: “I was all in!”  

One of her first assignments was picking up book donations from other volunteers who were at high risk for COVID-19 and unable to leave home. “I was really happy to help with that for them, so that they didn’t need to go drop anything off or drive anywhere,” she says. She has also helped process large book donations from ReaderLink, which she really enjoyed. “That was so much fun!” she says. “Diving into an entire room full of brand-new books—that was pretty exciting for me.”

Volunteers sorting book donations. (Note: All in-person volunteering took place earlier in the year, in accordance with county and state guidelines and restrictions. Stay safe!)

She also loved the ability to safely connect with other volunteers, masks and all, over a passion for stories as they sorted through the titles. “It was like the highlight of that particular week of otherwise complete isolation,” Gayle says. “It was also a good workout!” she laughs, describing the process of moving boxes of books up and down the stairs.

Ever since she was little, reading has played an important role in Gayle's life. “Books saved my life when I was growing up, they really did,” she says, describing the library in the small town where she grew up. “I would go to that library and just get a stack of books and just escape into other worlds as a child.” One of her favorite books was a children’s science fiction novel by Eleanor Cameron called The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. In the book, two young boys build a rocket ship and have adventures with aliens on a faraway planet.

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, one of Gayle’s favorite childhood books.

“As a little kid, I was in that rocket flying out to outer space, where the aliens were actually friendly and sweet and kind and funny,” she remembers. Instead of fear of the unknown and unfamiliar, this book represented “exploration and adventure and friendship” to Gayle. “It really paved my mentality for being a curious person, instead of a fear-based person,” she says. She also credits the literacy skills she picked up from devouring so many books with helping her excel in school.

Today, she hopes that she can help others have similar experiences with the transformative power of books. “I want that for kids in our community who might not have the support or may come from a tougher home life like I did,” she explains. “Reading is an escape from the reality that someone might be in, but it also expands the world,” she says. Through a good book, a kid in California has the opportunity to go to San Francisco in a story, or New York, or out to the country, or into the ocean—the possibilities for learning and exploring are endless.

“Stories can be healing, and stories can help you feel less alone. You recognize that some things are things we all have in common.

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And as they expand our worlds, stories also bring us together. “Stories can be healing, and stories can help you feel less alone. You recognize that some things are things we all have in common,” Gayle says, a reminder that feels more important than ever right now. “Literacy is about empowering everybody to recognize and show up with their unique abilities and talents, because we need everybody, as a society,” she says. “Literacy is one way to reach people to show them what the possibilities are.”

Gayle, thank you for bringing your time, energy, and enthusiasm to Words Alive! We know that your story will inspire more volunteers to raise their hands and say, “I’m all in!”