Books, Ideas and Action: Highlights from the AFT Book Club

Best-selling author Jason Reynolds returned to the AFT Book Club in “A Conversation with Jason Reynolds” to talk with AFT President Randi Weingarten about his latest book, Coach. The final book in his Track series following protagonists that are all members of an elite track team, Coach allows readers to imagine the adults in their lives as children—helping to build the bridges of understanding that are ultimately the power of storytelling. Reynolds and Weingarten discuss how exchanging stories opens readers to seeing themselves and each other more fully, finding common ground on which to connect even when they disagree. In engaging readers in critical thinking and self-discovery, stories not only inspire empathy and hope—they also move democracy forward.

In “Kamala Harris in Conversation with Randi Weingarten,” the former vice president discusses her 2025 book, 107 Days, which chronicles her emergence as the Democratic nominee for president and the intense days leading up to the November 2024 election. In their conversation, Harris and Weingarten explore the role of educators, healthcare workers, public employees, and higher education professionals in sustaining democracy. They also call for a renewed focus on civic education in public schools so that more students learn the value of public service, collective action, and the work required to strengthen our communities and our country for the fight ahead.

Over more than five decades of his work highlighting the deep inequalities in public education in the United States, educator and advocate Jonathan Kozol has inspired generations of young people to choose careers in education. The May 2026 book club, “A Conversation with Jonathan Kozol,” discusses We Shall Not Bow Down, in which Kozol examines how persistent racial segregation and unequal resources continue to limit opportunity for students across the country. Held on the anniversary of the 1954 US Supreme Court Brown v. Board decision, this conversation is particularly resonant because of all that has been rolled back in democracy and public education under the Trump administration. Kozol shares that while privatization and assaults on critical thinking, diversity, and students’ basic needs have worsened school segregation and underfunding, there’s still hope in dark times: Educators and their unions are standing in solidarity and fighting for what students need and for the joyful learning experiences that should characterize public education.

What does democracy mean, and who gets to determine it? The final book club of the 2025–26 school year is on We Are Mighty by educator, bestselling author, and “America’s Government Teacher” Sharon McMahon. The book profiles courageous Americans who helped shape our democracy in ways large and small. In “A Conversation with Sharon McMahon,” McMahon shares why she chose ordinary, little-known people—many of whom were teachers—for the book: Too often, adults feel powerless to create change in their communities. But throughout US history, change has been driven by people who “kept doing the next needed thing” with those in their immediate circles of influence and pressed forward despite adversity. The discussion highlights how educators can support civic learning and why it matters now more than ever—so students understand our history in full, think critically about the present, and see themselves as active participants in shaping the future.