ReadWorks’ Fiction Library Expansion

ReadWorks is thrilled to have received a two-year $150,000 grant from the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation to increase the number of high-quality, diverse texts in our library, specifically focusing on fiction that represents the more than 17 million students using ReadWorks annually. 

Educators have long requested more fiction for our library - even though fiction passages currently make up only 13% of our library, nearly 50% of the ReadWorks passages that educators assign the most are fiction. ReadWorks’ fiction library expansion will provide you and your students with the same high-quality, research-based writing you know and trust, encouraging students to continue engaging deeply with texts.

Fiction is fundamental to ReadWorks’ mission of developing successful, joyful readers, regardless of ​​background, socioeconomic status, or age. Fiction has the unique ability to stimulate key competencies in social-emotional learning (SEL), like positive relationships, problem-solving, collaboration, and goal-setting. With relatable characters and situations to invite them into the text, ReadWorks’ enhanced fiction catalog will offer students new and exciting reading experiences while still supporting the background knowledge, vocabulary, and strategic reading needed for reading-comprehension success. 

Through unsolicited feedback from educators, we also know that our only fiction action/adventure series, The Run, has captivated upper-elementary and middle-school readers across the country. In just one year, over 830,000 students in 5,268 districts across the country read The Run. So stay tuned because, with the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation’s grant, we will be creating three new action-packed, cliffhanging fiction series to excite students while helping them grow as readers.

Explore our current offering of K-12 fiction now.