Book Club: Ariel Crashes a Train

​Join the ISAAGNY community for an exploration of Ariel Crashes a Train by Olivia A. Cole. Announced in the fall, our annual book club gives members plenty of time to buy or borrow the book and read it at their own pace before coming together for a virtual conversation with the author in the spring.

​Although ISAAGNY's work centers on admissions, this conversation will not focus narrowly on admissions or education. Instead, we will consider the skills and capacities that help us do our work well: remaining open-minded, questioning assumptions, recognizing and confronting bias, sitting with complexity, and developing greater empathy and understanding.

​A powerful novel in verse about identity, intrusive thoughts, and the experience of living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Ariel Crashes a Train invites readers to look beyond outward appearances and approach one another -and ourselves - with greater curiosity and compassion.

​Buy (Bookshop; Amazon) or borrow (NYPL) a copy, read at your own pace, and join us for an engaging conversation with Olivia.

​SPEAKER: Olivia A. Cole is a writer, teacher, advocate, and parent from Louisville, Kentucky. Her books for young people and adults have received numerous honors, including recognition from the National Book Awards, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Kirkus Reviews, the New York Public Library, and Bank Street College of Education. Her essays have appeared in Bitch Media, Real Simple, the Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, Gay Mag, and other publications. Her novel in verse Ariel Crashes a Train was longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.