Given the choice of reading or not reading books related to favorite TV programs, pupils showed they would read when their interests were engaged. (JH)

Describes a survey of seventh grade students' reading attitudes. Presents interviews with three of the surveyed students in which they each describe a book they have read and their response to its special meaning. (HTH)

Argues that the key to helping one seventh-grade boy make the transition from non-reader to reader was in changing his self-image as a non-reader. Shows how he became actively engaged in reading and writing when he felt valued, took risks, and developed his own ideas. Argues for more closely aligning students' lives within school and outside…