Richmond family shares how free books changed their daughter's life

RICHMOND, Va. — When Justice Pinkston came home from J.B. Fisher Elementary School with five free books, her parents had questions.

Were they really free? All five of them? Could she really choose whichever books she wanted?

“I was like, are you sure they’re free? You know, like five free books?” her father, Justin Pinkston, said. “It was never something that we had ever experienced growing up.”

Her mother, Tyreshia, was skeptical, too.

“Any free book? You know, like, is there a cap?” she remembered wondering.

There was no catch.

Justice had participated in one of the free book fairs made possible through the Scripps Howard Fund and WTVR CBS 6’s annual “If You Give a Child a Book” campaign.

Watch: CBS 6 viewers raise thousands to buy books for Richmond students

Students are able to browse the fair, select five free books that interest them and take those books home to keep.

Justice remembers that very first time.

“I was excited the whole time,” she said. “To be able to get five free books, that was really exciting as well, because it could have been one or two, but five, I thought that was really cool.”

Her mother remembers that excitement spilling into the car after school. Justice could barely get buckled into her seatbelt before she started showing off what she had chosen.

Those first five books became the beginning of a much larger collection.

Over multiple book fairs at J.B. Fisher, Justice estimates she received at least 15 books. Her favorites now include Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Baby-Sitters Club, I Survived and Pete the Cat.

Her bookshelf is getting crowded.

“I have a whole collection. There’s a top row, there’s a bottom,” Justice said. “I think I need a bigger one now because they can’t really fit in there anymore.”

A love of reading grows beyond the bookshelf

Justin and Tyreshia say the impact of the books has gone far beyond simply giving their daughter something new to read.

Justice said she didn’t read nearly as much when she was younger. Now, that has changed.

“I’m really reading constantly,” she said. “Because books are really cool.”

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Her parents say they have watched her confidence grow along with her interest in reading.

“Reading helps you become a better speaker, helps you become a better writer,” Tyreshia said. “We can see how it’s helped Justice specifically build more confidence.”

By the end of fifth grade, that confidence was on display in a big way.

Justice was selected as a Maggie L. Walker Award recipient and was tasked with giving a speech during her elementary school graduation.

The idea of standing in front of an audience initially made her nervous.

“At first when I heard that I was going to have to give a speech for my graduation, I was like, ‘Oh, mm-mm,’” Justice said. “I was a little nauseous.”

But she did it.

Her parents watched as their daughter stood on stage and confidently delivered the speech she had prepared; a milestone they believe was built, in part, page by page through a reading habit that had been reignited years earlier.

Justice has a much simpler explanation for why books matter.

“Reading takes you places,” she said. “It really does.”

A chance meeting leads CBS 6 to the Pinkstons

The Pinkstons’ story might never have made it to CBS 6 if not for a chance conversation earlier this year.

CBS 6 Anchor GeNienne Samuels first met Justin and Tyreshia at a Hope for Learning nonprofit event in early 2026 that Samuels was emceeing.

During the event, the Pinkstons told Samuels that their daughter attended J.B. Fisher Elementary and had been a recipient of the free book fairs supported through CBS 6’s If You Give a Child a Book campaign.

They shared how excited Justice had been to receive her books and the difference they believed the experience had made for their daughter and their family.

That conversation planted the seed for telling their story.

And what better time to revisit the family than during this year’s If You Give a Child a Book campaign?

When CBS 6 caught up with the Pinkstons months later, we learned the story had come full circle in a way no one expected.

One of Justice’s first five books wasn’t for Justice

During Justice’s first free book fair, she had five books to choose.

She used one of those choices on someone else.

Her little brother, Titus, was not yet old enough to attend J.B. Fisher, but Justice spotted a Spider-Man book she thought he would enjoy.

“At the time he wasn’t here at Fisher, so I thought that would be cool for him to have a book as well so I can read it to him,” Justice recalled. “So I gave it to him and he was really happy.”

Now, Titus is 5 years old and beginning his own journey at J.B. Fisher — walking the same hallways his big sister once did.

And this school year, he will have the opportunity to experience the free book fairs for himself.

Asked what he is looking forward to, Titus already knows what he wants to do with his books.

“To read,” he said, “and learn and know how to read.”

His current assessment of reading is even more concise: “Reading is cool.”

Books become family time

The Pinkstons say one of the biggest changes sparked by Justice’s growing interest in books has happened at home.

While the family took frequent trips to the library to check out books, reading has become something the family now does together.

Justice and Titus read, their parents listen, and the family talks afterward about what happened in the story, the choices characters made and what everyone took away from it.

“It ignited more family engagement at home,” Tyreshia said. “It’s given us more time to just, when everything slows down, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to read together.”

Justin calls that family connection one of the greatest benefits they have seen.

“The bonding experience is probably the biggest, was no doubt the biggest benefit,” he said. “And it’s still continuing on. I don’t even think we know how big it’s going to be yet.”

Helping more Richmond children build home libraries

The Pinkstons are one family, but CBS 6’s If You Give a Child a Book campaign has continued to expand its reach in Richmond.

The effort began locally at Fairfield Court Elementary School and later expanded to J.B. Fisher Elementary. During the 2025-26 school year, Frances W. McClenney Elementary became the third Richmond Title I school supported through the campaign.

The free book fairs give students the opportunity to choose books they are interested in and, importantly, take them home to keep — helping children build libraries of their own.

The Pinkstons said their experience is why they wanted to share what happened after Justice carried those first five books out of J.B. Fisher.

“I think it’s a responsibility. I think it’s our duty,” Justin said. “We’ve been blessed and privileged to be a recipient of this awesome opportunity.”

He hopes sharing their family’s experience will help others understand that the impact of giving a child a book may continue long after the book fair ends.

For Justice, that has meant a bookshelf overflowing with books, a stronger love of reading and the confidence to stand in front of her classmates and deliver a graduation speech.

For her family, it has meant more time spent reading and talking together.

And for Titus, the next chapter is just beginning.

If your reading this article in September of any year, your donation can help young children at Title I schools build home libraries. Go to https://www.wtvr.com/giveabook to donate today.