How are you social distancing? Behind the Book is reading. And we bet you are too. Now’s the time to share the wealth – of good books.

Drama! The word conjures excitement, emotion, enthusiasm, energy, and if you want all that on steroids, I recommend attending a drama workshop with a class of 3rd graders.

Last week, a mixed 6-7-8th grade ELA class from M.S. 296 in the South Bronx visited the Midtown Manhattan offices of KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms.

This is a story about extraordinary people; it begins with the confusion of one very ordinary person.

I went into college knowing that my education is the most important thing that I’ve been given in my life, even if I didn’t want to become a teacher myself.

One morning I spent an hour with a 4th grade class at P.S. 197 in Harlem. Going into schools as a volunteer for Behind the Book is always an experience and I never get tired of the controlled chaos of it all.

Um, what’s a simile again?

The day before my volunteer assignment with Behind the Book, I reviewed our task: We’d be helping fourth graders at P.S. 197 in East Harlem write some lines of poetry, using metaphors, repetition and, er, similes.

“It was the war season.” Topaz,* a sweet, giggly high school senior, all glasses and braces and dimples, had turned her computer screen to me and while I knew her assignment was to write a piece of fiction about a character who had gone, or was going, through a change in their life, I was NOT expecting she would kick off her story like this.

Kam Mak, artist, author, and teacher has worked with Behind the Book since 2007. He’s done 15 programs with his book, My Chinatown – the most of any author to date. Kam himself is as vibrant as his art, and his enthusiasm for working with third-graders from elementary schools in New York City is readily apparent.

Author Alicia Klepeis has written a whopping 96 books. Her books are geared toward children of all ages, with titles ranging from Animal All-Stars to Haunted Cemeteries Around the World.