51st Annual COBA Annual Black Child Conference and Scholarship Awards

Small Books, Big Impact: Build Reading Joy and Improve Academic Success with High-Interest Novellas is a high-impact professional learning workshop addressing a growing issue in secondary classrooms: students start books but don’t finish them and achievement suffers as a result. The session demonstrates how strategically integrating high-interest novellas (70–150 pages) can rebuild reading volume and stamina without lowering rigor, leading to stronger vocabulary development, analytical thinking, writing endurance, and improved state and AP performance.


Participants learn how novellas function as a scalable, equity-centered literacy strategy: powering independent reading, accelerating book clubs, redesigning summer reading, and supporting both intervention and enrichment. Through data analysis, reflection on student motivation, and an interactive “novella tasting” featuring an excerpt from Remembering Love by Latrice L. Washington, educators leave with concrete implementation plans and ready-to-use resources.


Big takeaway: Small books remove barriers, increase completion, and drive rigorous, joyful literacy outcomes, especially for historically underserved students.