Reviews 37 different back-of-the-book (BOB) summaries to evaluate how helpful these summaries are for adolescent readers selecting a book for recreational reading. Finds that BOB summaries focus largely on plot events and do so accurately. Notes that teacher education students valued the accuracy of the summaries. Demonstrates the value in using…

Recommends fine fiction for summer reading, including Nadine Gordimer's "My Son's Story" (1991), Lillian Smith's "Strange Fruit" (1944), Josephine Hart's "Damage" (1991), Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres" (1991), and George Eliot's "Middlemarch" (1874). Nonfiction suggestions include Harlan Lane's…

Teachers and education professors suggest various nonfiction and fiction books for summer reading enjoyment, from Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone," C.A. Bowers's "Let Them Eat Data," and Larry McMurtry's "Roads: Driving America's Great Highways" to Kent Hauf's "Plainsong, J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace," and Michael Cunningham's "The Hours." (MLH)

Is that the sound of the last bus leaving the schoolyard? Or the staff's collective sigh of relief? School's out. Now it's time to nurture the lifelong learner deep inside with a summer reading list that will allow teachers to renew, reflect, and refresh. The National Science Education Standards reminds us, "Becoming an effective science teacher…

This study examined the recreational reading attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of college students. The theory of reasoned action provided the framework for the investigation and prediction of the students' intentions and behaviors. Two hundred and one students completed questionnaires developed according to the guidelines for the construction…

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…

A survey shows that in 1992, 60.9 percent of American adults read at least one book in a year, which was 56.6 percent in 2002. For literary texts the figure was 54 percent in 1992, which reduced to 46.7 percent in 2002. According to the California State Librarian Emeritus Kevin Starr the decline in reading is connected with several cultural…

Weekends, summers, and holidays are better spent reading and participating in fun activities with one's child. Time at home can be spent doing something creative by creating thematic book bags that children and parents can check out of the class. In this way, children are able to see their parents making reading and school a priority, while…

In this article, the author presents a profile of Nikki Grimes, award-winning poet and author of children's books. Grimes spent much of her childhood in and out of foster homes, where she discovered that reading provided a much-needed escape. This love of reading eventually led also to a love of writing. Having no formal training as a poet, Grimes…

This report delineates a three-part investigation into first graders' preferences, selection rationales, and processes when choosing a picture book to own. One-hundred ninety first graders were invited to select their favorite book from among nine high-quality, well-illustrated picture books representing a variety of topics, media, and genres. In…

The field of college developmental reading does not have a unified, agreed-upon approach to creating effective and efficient readers at the college level, as Reynolds and Werner (2003) have pointed out. For example, Keefe and Meyer (1991) assert the appropriateness of a holistic, whole-language approach for adult readers, while Bohr (2003)…

Students must be able to create meaning from career and technical education texts. Reading and comprehension of texts are skills that develop through practice with a variety of texts, including those in career and technical education. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design was used to determine the effect of implementing content…

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…

This bibliography contains an extensive list of works of literature for the children of Micronesia. The bibliography is divided into the following categories: (1) "Micronesia" (including 41 citations); (2) "Primary: Picture Books" (378 citations); (3) "Primary" (83 citations); "Intermediate" (88 citations);…

A study examined the relationship between television viewing and reading behavior within a sample of 198 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students: specifically, whether the amount and specific content of television being viewed affected reading achievement and leisure reading patterns. Intelligence and reading achievement scores of each participant…