Hi, I'm Zibby Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast, Moms, don't have time to read books.

Please sign up for my newsletter at Zibbeowens.com for weekly updates about my podcasts, events, and more.

Also, follow me on Instagram at Zib Owens and also at Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.

And finally, join my virtual book club called Zivie's Virtual Book Club,

which meets every other Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time until 3 p.m.

And features half an hour of book club discussion followed by 30 minutes of

Q&A with the author whose book we've just discussed. You can sign up on my website, zibbyowens.com,

under the virtual book club section, or even on Instagram under the link in my bio. I hope

you'll find me in all these different channels and enjoy this podcast. The sponsor for this whole Labor Day Book blast week is Firstbook.org.

Obviously, the pandemic is crippling education for millions of students, especially those in low-income communities, the widening digital divide and extended, quote-unquote, summer slide due to COVID is devastating.

Apparently, 40% lack access to reliable Internet and functioning digital devices they can use for online learning,

making the need for physical books and resources to prevent further educational backsliding absolutely critical.

First book breaks down the barriers to education for children living in low-income communities

by providing its network of more than 475,000 educators serving children in need with free

and affordable new, high-quality books, educational resources, and basic needs items through

the award-winning First Book Marketplace, nonprofit e-commerce site.

They need your support to ensure these children have what they need to learn during this critical

time. Visit firstbook.org to help. Elizabeth Ames is the author of debut novel, The Others

Gold, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Helen Zell Writers Program

at the University of Michigan.

Elizabeth has lived in Seattle, France, and Rwanda since leaving the Midwest.

She currently lives in a Harvard dormitory with her husband, two children, and a few hundred undergraduates, or at least it was that way until this year when everything is going virtual.

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