Teaching for social responsibility should be one of the vital aims of our schools. Young adult literature offers an authentic, meaningful, and critical way to teach for social responsibility. This article offers an overview of the different elements of social responsibility and some young adult novels and graphic novels that could be used to teach…

This qualitative case study of the ReadDeVry reading circles program, a DeVry University funded project, identifies the theoretical and practical considerations for reading circles programs serving college students. As designed, the program addresses a number of the issues raised recently by national organizations such as the American College…

This paper presents additional information from the authors' 2009 survey of young people's reading and writing--for more information see their forthcoming report Clark and Douglas (2010) "Young People's Reading and Writing: An in-depth study focusing on enjoyment, behaviour, attitudes and attainment." To support the School Library…

If a child is allowed to read under enjoyable conditions, most likely he will want to learn to read and, as a result, will develop better reading skills. (CK)

Describes the various responses to literary works that are possible; encourages wide reading. (DD)

Suggests that the assumption that the more gold stars collected, the more books read, and the more books read, the better the literary experience. Notes the absence of genuine literary involvement in simply gathering gold stars for books read. (RS)

Muses on whether a literature teacher's primary function is to instill an appreciation of literature in students or to involve students in the act of reading. (SR)

A Summer project designed to encourage students to read as a pleasurable and profitable activity is described. (MM)

Recounts a childhood experience that helped develop a sense of delight in an author's choice of diction. (EL)

A study examined the extent to which adults engage in reading tasks to meet a variety of personal purposes and needs, asking when engaged reading is most likely to occur for types of text sources, reading purposes, reading settings, educational attainment groups, and occupational groups. Subjects included 159 adults who represented a wide range of…

Educators and parents often scapegoat television for destroying children's minds and turning kids into passive nonreaders. Parents do not spend enough time engaged with their children in whatever they do. Many who read to their children plant them in front of PG-rated movies, Saturday morning cartoons, and prime-time sit-coms without discussing…

Adolescent literature should deal with the problems of adolescents, should provide them with pleasure, and should say something to them. The adolescent novel is a bridge through a difficult age, a bridge from literature for children to literature for adults, and a bridge to major literary works. Adolescent novels can also be used to approach a…

Includes a list of novels in the order of their popularity among an assorted group of 400 students. (RD)

Argues that the humorous books that teenagers choose to read are appropriate in relation to their interests, maturity, and experience. (AEA)