Summer is almost upon us, and the thought of recharging my personal batteries, spending quality time with friends and family, and catching up on my ever growing collection of books is keeping me going as the end of the semester draws near.
In addition to sharing my annual #summerreads blog post, I’m also launching the HPE Summer Book Club. This is an opportunity for our community to come together over a selection of four book titles, in our own time, for free. With the support of our peers on the Nexus platform (formerly HPE Collective) we can bounce our thoughts around online, and meet at the end of both months with a video chat.
Additionally, If you’re heading to the Best Practices in HPE Conference in Wisconsin in July, we’re meeting up in person to dive into the books.
The Summer Lineup
June’s Titles
Ditching Weight Stigma by Cait O’Connor
Learn how anti-fat bias, weight stigma, and fatphobia show up in P-12 educational spaces and how that bias impacts the learners, educators, and communities where it happens.
In this important book, author Cait O’Connor reveals common problems with anti-fatness toward students in the classroom, in the curriculum, across subject areas, in the cafeteria, and after school. She also discusses anti-fatness toward teachers and staff. Throughout, she helps educators reflect on these issues and offers concrete solutions and equity fixes.
This is a vital roadmap for creating a weight-neutral, inclusive environment where every body feels safe to move. Check out Cait’s Substack here.
The Way of Excellence by Brad Stulberg
“An absolutely beautiful book that captures a lot of what I believe as a coach. The gratification that comes from truly losing one’s self in that process is an amazing gift. It brings joy, peace of mind, and a sense of pride. These are things we frequently talk about with the Warriors, and I believe are part of our success.” – Steve Kerr, 9 time NBA Champion, Coach of the Golden State Warriors and Team USA
This book shares how to pursue high performance and mastery without the burnout. Check out Brad’s Substack here.
July’s Titles
Getting Real About Sex Ed by Shafia Zaloom
Shafia Zaloom offers educators, administrators, and caregiving adults concrete language and strategies for integrating sexuality education into daily practice, beginning with students in kindergarten and carrying through to high school graduation. The book highlights how comprehensive sexuality education scaffolds the sexual development of students as it gradually layers in age-appropriate information, skills, and positive values to practice and prepare for safe and fulfilling relationships, as well as how students can take responsibility for their own sexual health and well-being.
This book will help with navigating dignity, consent, and the real-world questions our students are asking. Visit Shafia’s website here.
On Sports by David Macfarlane
On Sports reads like a conversation between friends at the ballpark in those golden days before the kiss cam and college co-eds with T-shirt cannons spoiled the fun; a book that feels like the sun on your forehead and the breeze in your hair, beer and laughter on your lips; a book that celebrates communion and friendship and the beauty of these games—whether it be baseball or football or soccer or tennis or cricket—that we’ve designed to distract ourselves from the end of the world. It’s about what 7Up tastes like when drunk from the Grey Cup, how much work it takes for talent to shine, and the near impossibility of language to properly capture athletic excellence.
This pocket-sized book is a beautiful, philosophical look at why sports matter to the human spirit. Read an excerpt from On Sports here.
Sign Up: Click here to join Nexus, then navigate to the slowchathealth banner. That’s where you can post your thoughts, and engage with other educators.
Spread the Word: Share this event on social media. Forward this to your Department Chair or your district’s HPE Coordinator. We all have that one colleague who is our go-to for new ideas. Tag them in the comments and tell them, “You’re reading these with me this summer!”
Use the hashtag #HPESummerBookClub so we can find each other across platforms.
Get the Books: Grab your copies (audiobooks count!) and get ready to dive in on June 1st.
This microblog post was a featured post in #slowchathealth’s #microblogmonth event. You can search for all of the featured posts here. Please do follow each of the outstanding contributors on social media (including Andy Milne, the author of this post) and consider writing a microblog post of your own to be shared with the global audience of slowchathealth.com
Pair this post with the following:
Summer Reading 2025 (2026 version coming soon)
5 New Books I’m Recommending For Teachers
#slowchathealth 