The Best Way to Get Your Way

Gr 3-5–Let’s face it—we all wanna get our way in life. Unfortunately, for kids, their lack of power and agency often means that they must accept rules they find unfair. This book lays out how to debate (and hopefully win!) in a way that’s clear and understandable for readers. Each chapter includes two fictional kids arguing either side of a topic like whether kids should go to bed early, or if screen time is positive or negative for children. Each argument, pro or con, is structured the same way: opening statements, presentations of evidence, rebuttals, and closing arguments. Throughout the debates, the narrator discusses some important concepts in effective debate, such as causation vs. correlation, biased sources, logical fallacy, factual accuracy, and repletion. After reading the arguments, kids are encouraged to pick a side based on which argument they believed was the strongest. With a diverse cast and kid-friendly arguments, this is a unique guidebook that empowers all readers to build their debate tenacity. Who knows? Maybe someday they can use it to change the world.