Books Save Lives: The Lighthouses of Community

Oct 16 2025

In October 2025, RPCS was thrilled to welcome New York Times bestselling author Dhonielle Clayton as the featured speaker for our annual Anne Healy Lecture. A former teacher and elementary and middle school librarian, Ms. Clayton has written multiple books including The Belles Series and Shattered Midnight. She also wrote the Conjureverse series, comprised of The Marvellers, The Memory Thieves and The Deadly Fates, which were Ms. Clayton’s first middle-grade fantasy books. Ms. Clayton is the co-author of Blackout, Whiteout, and The Rumor Game. She also co-wrote the Tiny Pretty Things duology, which is now on Netflix as an original series.

Over two days, Ms. Clayton met with all of our students in grades 3-12, many of whom read her books over the summer. In the Lower School, she talked about her Conjureverse series and introduced the girls to characters and themes throughout her three books, with hints as to what’s to come in her fourth and final installment. In her meetings with Middle and Upper School students, she talked about her journey as a writer, including how she comes up with story ideas, the secret to becoming an author, and specific tips for how to write books (be ready, be curious and be ready to revise!). She also led a writing workshop with seventh grade students and guided a conversation about the themes from The Belles with ninth graders. In every meeting, Ms. Clayton graciously answered a lot of questions from the students. She also signed all of their books!

In her personal and thought-provoking evening lecture to adult members of our community and Upper School tri-school students, Ms. Clayton talked about the importance of reading and compared books to lighthouses that provide comfort in times of darkness. She spoke about her family’s history and how her grandfather’s hope for her was “to have an easy life full of books and imagination.” As co-founder and Board Chair of the nonprofit organization We Need Diverse Books, Ms. Clayton advocates that every child should be able to read books that reflect their own realities. She also talked about how reading books connect us as a community, help us learn from and listen to each other and make us more empathetic and self-aware. She encouraged the audience to keep reading and never stop dreaming. “Books are your greatest weapons,” Ms. Clayton told the audience. “Always make good trouble.”

Members of the community deeply connected with her stories, insights, and perspectives and asked her many thoughtful questions before mingling at a book signing afterwards. We are so grateful to Ms. Clayton for taking the time to visit our school and infuse fresh energy and ideas throughout our community!

The Anne Healy endowment was created to honor Miss Healy, who served as the Head of School for 25 years, from 1950 to 1975. A special day is set aside every year and a distinguished person in the field of letters is invited to meet and work with groups of students during the school day and to present an evening program for students, faculty and members of the larger school community.