National reading program helps Native communities increase literacy skills, preserve culture.

International Reading Association
The homepage of the International Reading Association provides information about conferences, publications, and research.

The Knowledge Loom
Using the Knowledge Loom makes you part of an active online teaching and learning community.

National Assessment of Educational Progress
"The Nation's Report Card," featuring the NAEP 2000 Reading Assessment results.

National Middle School Association (Click on News and Views and on Position Statements)
"Supporting Young Adolescents' Literacy Learning: A Position Paper adopted Jointly by International Reading Association and National Middle Schools Association"

Reading is Fundamental Exchange
The Reading is Fundamental (RIF) Exchange is an hour-long monthly television program designed to keep educators, librarians, and parents informed on the latest developments and trends in children's literacy. TV Show 306 is about older students and literacy.

TAGS (Teen Advisory Group Site)
The Young Adult Library Services Association has created a web site dedicated to Teen Advisory Groups!

Young Adult Library Services Association
A division of the American Library Association, YALSA advocates, promotes and strengthens service to young adults, ages 12 through 18, as part of the continuum of total library services. Web site includes lists of recommended books for young adults.

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SmartGirl.org survey results are in!

2005 Smartgirl.org/ Teen Read Week Survey Results. 

2003 SmartGirl.org/ Teen Read Week Survey Results   From Teen Read Week October 19-24, 2004. 
2002 SmartGirl.org/Teen Read Week Survey Results  From Teen Read Week October 13-19, 2003.  An amazing 6458 people responded!
2001 SmartGirl.com/Teen Read Week Survey. As part of Teen Read Week that took place from October 12 through October 20, 2001, SmartGirl and the American Library Association put out a survey asking teens all about reading. An astonishing 2,809 teens responded to this survey!
1999 SmartGirl.com/ Teen Read Week Survey Results

National Education Association (NEA) Poll on Reading Habits of Adolescents, NEA, February 2001: Very positive results about teen reading are reported here. Teenagers 12–18 rated reading, math, and writing as the first, second and third most important things people need to learn to be successful in life.

Teens Talk to America, The Shell Poll, Shell Oil Company, Summer, 1999: Reveals the impact parental reading has on teen lives. Sixty-four per cent of the 1015 teens interviewed whose parents read to them very frequently say their approach to schoolwork is to “make the best effort” compared to only forty-six per cent of teens who say their parents read to them infrequently.

“What You Didn’t Know About Teens,” Book, July-August, 1999: A survey of 2000 kids by Teenage Research Unlimited found that 61 percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 19 say they read books for pleasure.

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ALA’s Guide to Best Reading 2000. ALA Editions, 2000. A kit that contains photocopy-ready bookmarks and brochures of all of ALA’s annual lists of award-winning books for children, young adults, and adults, including a new list of “Outstanding Books for the College Bound.”

Abrahamson, Marla, Why Boys Don't Read, Book, Jan./Feb. 2001: 86–88. There are psychological, physiological, and sociological reasons why boys don't read as much as girls.

Aronson, Marc. Coming of Age: One Editor's View of How Young Adult Publishing Developed in America, Publishers Weekly, Feb. 11, 2002: 82–86.
The author provides an overview of publishing for young adults and as a bonus gives us some nifty charts and graphs. One from the Census Bureau shows how the U.S. population of young adults will continue to grow through 2050. He also provides charts and graphs with information from the 2001 SmartGirl Teen Reading survey.

Baker, Marianne. Reading Resistance in Middle School: What Can Be Done? Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Feb. 2002: 364–366.
Overcoming resistance to reading in middle school.

Baker, Marianne I. Standpoints and Voices: Reading Resistance in Middle School: What Can Be Done? Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Feb. 2002: 364–366.

Best Books for Young Adults: The Selections, the History, the Romance. ALA Editions, 1994. A compilation of annual lists of Best Books for Young Adults from 1966 to 1993. ISBN: 0-8389-3439-0. 214p. $28. To order, call 800-545-2433, press 7.

Best Books for Young Adults, Second Edition, by Betty Carter, ALA, 2000. Contains the Best Books for Young Adults annual lists from 1966–1999 and short lists of selections by topic or genre.

Bland, Guy. Out With The Old, In With The (Not So) New. English Journal, Jan. 2001: 20–22. A case for not teaching the classics.

Book: The Magazine for the Reading Life. This magazine began publication in 1998 and offers news, features, and information about authors, books, publishers, and bookstores.

Books For You. NCTE, 1995. Recommended books for high school students in various categories such as love stories, mysteries, and fantasy. ISBN: 0-8141-0367-7. 432p. $21.95. To order, call 800-369-6283.

Bowen, Liam. Keep Reading Lists Fun. Washington Post, July 12, 2001, p. C10.

Brozo, William G. To Be A Boy, To Be A Reader: Engaging Teen and Preteen Boys in Active Literacy. International Reading Association, 2002.
Strategies for engaging adolescent boys in reading.

Chan, Stacy. Evolution of a Reader. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Feb. 2002:p 408–409.
A poem that describes a reader from age 3 to age 25.

Chandler, Kelly. Reading Relationships: Parents, Adolescents and Popular Fiction by Stephen King. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Nov. 1999: 228–39. Avid readers of Stephen King include parents and their children. The article illustrates the importance of parents and teens sharing books and talking about them.

Clinton, Patrick. Literacy in America: The crisis you don't know about, and what we can do about it. Book, September/October 2002.

Covey, Sean. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Simon & Schuster, 1998. Covey, Stephen R., The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon and Schuster, 1990. Without them we would not have our Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teen Readers.

Carlsen, G. Robert, and Anne Sherrill. Voices of Readers: How We Come to Love Books. NCTE, 1988. Former students tell how they developed a habit for and a love of reading.

Crowe, Chris. Young Adult Literature. English Journal, March 2001: 125-130. Are there no “hopeful” books for young adults? Are they all dark and/or deep?

Crowe, Chris. Dear Teachers: Please Help My Kids Become Readers. English Journal, Sept. 1999: 149–42. What teachers can do to help students enjoy reading.

Cuza, Bobby and Ann L. Kim. Computers, Comic Books Draw in Teenagers to the Library. Los Angeles Times, October 14, 1999. With a variety of resources—CDs, magazines, the Internet, and yes, books—the LA downtown library is attracting teens.

Dodge, Susan. Tech-savvy Teens Still Read Books. Chicago Sun-Times, Feb. 15, 2000. Despite their fascination with technology, teens are still reading.

Dresang, Eliza T. Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age. H.W. Wilson, 1999. A look at literature for children and young adults in today’s digital world. Dresang contends that handheld books are changing formats, perspectives, and boundaries.

Elkins, John, and Allan Luke. Redefining Adolescent Literacies. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Nov. 1999: 212–215. A call for a new approach to provide the instruction needed in adolescent literacy—a multiliteracy approach and new kinds of reading specialists.

Fineman, Marcia. Talking About Books: A Step-By-Step Guide for Participation in a Book Discussion Group. Talking About Books, 1998. A guide for getting the most out of your book discussion group. ISBN: 0-9661-5670-6. 53p. $11.95. To order, call 1-800-484-7592 # 7586.

Gutchewsky, Kimberly. An Attitude Adjustment: How I Reached My Reluctant Readers. English Journal, Nov. 2001: 79–85.

Hoff, David J. U.S. Students Rank Among Worlds Best and Worst Readers. Education Week, December 12, 2001, p. 7.

Humphrey, Jack W. Learning Not To Read: Something Substantial Was Lost When Middle Schools Dropped Reading Classes. Education Week, March 1, 2000: 43–48. If reading classes are to be reestablished in middle schools, the school needs a vision of what would happen if they restored time for reading to the curriculum. The expectations listed for reading teachers in middle schools can be adapted for other kinds of teachers and schools.

Keller, Julia. Want Your Child To Be A Reader? Then Be A Reader Yourself. Chicago Tribune, Feb. 27, 2000. To find reading success, children need to “do it early, do it often, and do it as a family.”

King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Scribner, 2000. Part autobiography and part "how-to manual," King's love of reading is evident throughout. He sums up the relationship between reading and writing when he says, "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write."

Kloberdanz, Kristin. Out On The Shelf. Book, September/October 2001, p. 90–91. Young adult literature for gay and lesbian youth is changing the face of the genre.

Krashen, Stephen. Do Teenagers Like to Read? Yes! Reading Today, April/May 2001, p. 16. Krashen reviews the results of three surveys that show teens like to read, read quite a bit, and value reading.

Kurek, Greg. Reaching Older Readers. NEA Today, Feb. 2001: 8–11. A member of the NEA's Task Force on Reading, provides strategies for helping the older student who has reading problems.

McCullough, David. No Time to Read. Family Circle, Mar. 18, 2000: 156. In a Full Circle column, well-know author David McCullough states that, “If the average American spent the same amount of time reading that he now spends watching TV, in a week he could read: all the poems of T. S. Eliot and Maya Angelou, two plays by Thornton Wilder, The Great Gatsby—and more.”

McFann, Jane. The Sky's The Limit. Reading Today, Dec. 2000/Jan. 2001: 2 A reading program that makes a lot of mileage.

Moje, Elizabeth Birr, et. al. Reinventing Adolescent Literacy for New Times: Perennial and Millenial Issues. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Feb. 2000: 400–409. Adolescent literacy issues for the future are complex and demanding. The development of this age group’s reading, writing and language skills deserves serious attention.

Outstanding Books for the College Bound: Choices for a Generation. ALA Editions, 1996. A compilation of recommended books for the college-bound. ISBN: 0-8389-3456-0. 217p. $25. To order, call 1-800-545-2433, press 7.

A Passion for Books: A Book Lover's Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Lore, and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring. Crown Publishing Group, 1998. A collection sof classic and contemporary essays, stories, lists, poems, quotations, and cartoons on the joys of reading, appreciating, and collecting books.

Pilgreen, Janice. The SSR Handbook: How to Organize and Manage a Sustained Silent Reading Program. Boynton/Cook, 2000.
For anyone involved in an SSR program or anyone who wants to make SSR a part of their curriculum.

Quindlen, Anna. How Reading Changed My Life. Ballantine Books, 1998. A well-known columnist and author, Quindlen has the reading habit. She connects her own experiences with reading habits in general and the way they have changed over the years. She includes a series of idiosynchratic book lists, one of which is "10 Books That Will A Teenager Feel More Human."

Santa, Carol Minnick. Adolescent Literacy: A Position Statement. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, September, 1999, pp. 97–108. Adolescents who become adults in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in history. The ability to read will be vital if they are to survive and thrive in the world of the future. Includes a very comprehensive bibliography.

Schon, Isabel. From Dias de pinta to Las Christmas: Noteworthy books in Spanish for Adolescents. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Feb. 2002: 410–414.

Specific Strategies for Helping Struggling Middle School Readers.  English Update, Spring 2001, p. 4. Includes a list of ways to help struggling readers increase the volume and fluency of their reading.

Struggling Adolescent Readers: A Collection of Teaching Strategies. edited by David W. Moore, Donna E. Alvermann, and Kathleen A. Hinchman, International Reading Assocition, 2000. This compilation of articles from the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy deals with beliefs and situations that interfere with teens' learning.

Supporting Young Adolescents' Literacy Learning: A Joint Position Paper of the International Reading Association and National Middle School Association.

Taylor, Sheryl V. and Dennis W. Nesheim. Making Literacy Real for "High Risk" Adolescent Emerging Readers: An Innovative Application of Readers' Workshop. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Dec. 2000/Jan. 2001: 308–318. The readers' workshop in an unusual setting—a residential treatment center for adolescents.

Trelease, Jim. The Read-Aloud Handbook, 5th Ed. Penguin, 2001. Anyone who reads aloud to anyone, but especially to children, can use this book to build skills and to have a ready collection of stories available and at hand to read aloud. This edition is completely revised and updated.

Weeks, Linton. Books That May Make Parents Blush. Washington Post, Mar. 11, 2001: A01 Extensive quotes by YALSA members explain modern young adult literature.

Williams, Moll. Making Connecions: A Workshop for Adolescents Who Struggle with Reading. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Apr. 2001: 588–602.

Your Reading. NCTE. An annotated list of books for middle school and junior high school students in various categories, such as Family and Home and Staying Alive. To order the latest edition, call 1-800-369-6283.

YALSA. Excellence in Library Services to Young Adults: The Nation’s Top Programs, 3d Ed. Mary K. Chelton, ed. ALA Editions, 2000. Funded in part by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust as part of the Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults Project. For every librarian who seeks to better serve the new and unique young adult market. ISBN: 0-8389-0786-5. 96p. $25. To order, call 1-800-545-2433, press 7.

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