06/18/2026
At Moon and Back Bookstore in West Medford, Mass., a child looking for a book about a truck doesn’t need to know the author’s name or ask an adult where to find it.
That’s because the shelves are arranged the way young readers would search: by dinosaurs, ocean life, “royal and magical” stories, and whatever else has caught their attention that week.
Michelle Smith (SHA’11), a mother of two boys, opened Moon and Back in February 2025. “I wanted a place where kids feel welcome, where kids can learn to love reading because they can find stuff that’s exciting to them,” Smith says.
“My kids went through phases where they liked trucks, and they just wanted a book with trucks in it. They didn’t care if it was a funny story or nonfiction [or] who wrote it or if it was new or old. They just wanted trucks.” 📚
Read more on Bostonia ➡️ http://spr.ly/6189BDMseR
