Focuses on a women's reading group that was organized for the purpose of discussing popular books from the Nancy Drew collection. Notes that when the participants were collaborative rather than hierarchical in their discussion stances, they constructed unexpected knowledge and expressed divergent views. Explores the implications of findings for…

A 3-year project used a responsive teaching strategy, which begins with students' responses, to influence 6 adolescent readers' responses to poetry. Although not poetry enthusiasts initially, students developed intellectual keenness for the subject. (SK)

This article describes, "Getting Acquainted with Young Adult Literature," a book club geared specifically toward teachers, launched by Angela Boccuzzi-Reichert. Angela is a media specialist at Merton Williams Middle School. The club is the perfect way to familiarize teachers with contemporary young adult literature--and ultimately expose hundreds…

The Chinese people have great regard for those who read widely, yet little is known of the extracurricular reading behaviors of Chinese students. This study drew on data from two national surveys to investigate the amount of time Taiwanese college students spend on extracurricular reading. Findings are interpreted in relation to prior research on…

With 104 advanced second language (L2) readers, this investigation seeks to construct a multicomponent model of interest and L2 reading. Sources of interest (SI) refer to variables that induce feelings of interest in a text. Perceived interest (PI) refers to the feeling of interest itself (Schraw, Bruning, & Svoboda, 1995). A factor analysis…

We examined the reading interest and behavior of students in one rural (n = 664) and one inner-city (n = 510) middle school. Responses to the questionnaire indicated that in general, middle school students are not interested in reading and spend very little time engaged in various reading activities. Further analysis of the data showed differences…

This book presents an informal history of books and reading, beginning with the first clay tablets and continuing on to the latest novels. The history recounted in the book reveals the power books have always had to delight and entertain, and to enlighten, educate, and "raise possibilities." But the story of reading also contains many…

While English teachers want students to enjoy reading, to appreciate the beauty of literature, and to recognize the universality of the classics, many adolescent students do not become interested in the aesthetic aspect of literature until they are beyond high school age. Some works, outside the traditional literary canon, speak more directly to…

This annotated bibliography lists approximately 500 titles that reflect the diversity of interests and levels of sophistication among young adult readers between the ages of 12 and 18. Within each subject division is a varied array of fiction and nonfiction titles, some ideal for middle graders, others more appropriate for adult-level readers. The…

States that the formula for a successful magazine is: Search out the issues which matter most to the reader and build your magazine around them. (RB)

Newspaper action line columns which stress problem solving get more inquiries than those which merely provide information. (RB)

Reveals that community college reading students are as knowledgeable of efficient reading techniques as the sociology students are. (RB)

Noting that the decline in adult newspaper readership does not match the growth in the number of educated adults, a study queried (1) Which characteristics of news items most strongly predict readership levels? and (2) Is there any difference in the best set of predictors for the different age groups (older than and younger than 35)? A readership…

This report reviews the research on text-based interest, defined as those elements within texts that create interest for the majority of readers. Three issues are covered: (1) what kinds of information are considered interesting, both theoretically and empirically; (2) what effects popular strategies for creating interest have on learning…

To investigate the relationship between newspaper readership and community involvement in a nonmetropolitan area, data were collected from a random sample of 300 residents of one California county. The county has one daily newspaper and four weeklies. Subjects were asked if they read a newspaper once a week or more, if they subscribed to any…