NAVIGATION
New to First Book?
Join us to connect with thousands of fellow educators and access exciting educational events and resources for you and your students.
We use cookies to keep our site secure, improve your experience, and understand how our content is used. You can accept all cookies or decline non-essential ones.
New to First Book?
Join us to connect with thousands of fellow educators and access exciting educational events and resources for you and your students.
Posted in: Press Room
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C., October 16, 2025 — First Book, the national nonprofit that furthers educational opportunities for children in low-income communities, and Penguin Young Readers are giving educators and students the opportunity to engage with author Helena Haywoode Henry about her groundbreaking new young adult novel, Last Chance Live! Described as “Squid Game meets Dear Justyce,” the debut novel combines humor with fast-paced, page-turning suspense, as it follows the young Eternity Price, a fictional death-row inmate, as she competes on a reality show for a chance at clemency and survival.
Celebrated New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander says, “This is quite frankly a perfect book. Powerful message, masterful storylines, and exquisite writing.”
Haywoode Henry will connect with students and educators through two in-person school events and two virtual events open to select registered members. These students and educators will be among the first to learn about the book, which publishes in early October.
The virtual events will be hosted as part of a beta test for the First Book Community Platform, a digital platform that will deliver programming for children and educator training directly to educators and children in under-resourced communities across the country.
About First Book
Education transforms lives. First Book is building a world where every child has access to a quality education. It works to remove barriers to education and level the playing field for kids in need. At the heart of its work are the 600,000+ members of the First Book Network, the largest online community of individual educators, professionals and volunteers dedicated to supporting children living in low-income communities across North America. This Network is the key to creating lasting change. Through its research arm, First Book Research & Insights, it conducts studies that aggregate the voices of the Network to identify challenges, needs, and solutions. To address their needs, it provides free and low-cost books, resources and access to leading experts through the First Book Marketplace, which uses aggregated buying power to support their work. Founded in Washington D.C. in 1992 as a nonprofit social enterprise, First Book is dedicated to eliminating barriers to learning and inspiring young minds. Learn more at
Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher, is dedicated to its mission of nourishing a universal passion for reading by connecting authors and their writing with readers everywhere. The company, which employs more than 10,000 people globally, was formed on July 1, 2013, by Bertelsmann and Pearson. As of April 1, 2020, Bertelsmann is full owner of the company. With more than 300 imprints and brands on six continents, Penguin Random House comprises adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print and digital English-German-and Spanish-language trade book publishing businesses in more than 20 countries worldwide. With over 15,000 new titles, and more than 600 million print, audio and eBooks sold annually, Penguin Random House’s publishing lists include more than 80 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors