Contents (Tentative) Acknowledgments Part I. Engaging Reading, a Social Phenomenon 1. Young Adults Reading Literature (or Not) Teens Can Be Enthusiastic, Engaged Readers Engaging Books The Subtleties of Supporting Teen Development 2. Choosing to Read Good (Meaningful) Books Disturbing Books Autonomy Talk About Books 3. Talk to Me-Cultivating Peer Relationships Supportive Peer Relationships Close Friendships Learning Relationships When Positive Relationships Are Absent The Solution? Engaged Reading 4. Re-seeing Family Families Reading Families and Talk Families, Minds, and Transformation Disturbing Books and Difficult Topics Parent Perspectives on Students' Reading Part II. The Breadth of Teen Development 5. Social-Emotional Development The Social Hub of Development Talking About Thoughts and Feelings On Reflection To Summarize 6. Who Will I Be? Building a Life Narrative Living Into a Character A Reflective Metaphor Narrative as a Cautionary Tale Synthesizing Principles Self-Regulation Reconstructing the Socialized Self Who Am I? Who Do I Want to Be? 7. Moral Development Developing the Moral Self Moral Judgments Recognizing Language as a Potential Act of Violence Multiple Perspectives and Moral Reach So . . . 8. Happiness, Wellbeing, and Other Trivial Matters Gratefulness Loss and Grief More Healing Opportunities Positive Emotions and Wellbeing Feeling, Heard, Understood, and Cared For Sources of Happiness and Wellbeing 9. Reading Competence Reading Strategically Reading Strategically, on Steroids Comprehending Socially Reading Closely Reading: No Solo Act Reading Competently Part III. Negotiating Literature, Teaching, and Teen Development 10. What Do We Think We're Doing? Fizzling Out of Engagement Unraveling of the Social Thread More Teaching Changes Knowing Books and Individuals Negotiating Relationships and Relational Capital 11. Seamless Teaching Seamlessness Characters and Change Inferring, Especially Thoughts and Feelings Literature, Themes, and Life's Dilemmas Teaching About How Words Capture and Shape Thoughts and Feelings Teaching for Intellectual Flexibility 12. Inquiry, Learning, and Authority Foundations of Collaborative Dialogic Inquiry Distributing Authority, Distributing Teaching Teaching for Identity Shifts Teaching: More Than the Sum of its Parts 13. Heckling Concerns of Intellectuals, Philosophers, and the Like Parents' (and Thus Teachers') Concerns 14. The Alchemy of Young Adults' Engagements Among Books Evidence The Work of Conversations The Work of ELA Teachers and Their Books The Socialness of Reading What Do We Want? Appendix A The Study Appendix B Young Adult Books and Other Trade Books Mentioned Index About the Author
In a sea of troubling reports about education, teaching, reading, and the well-being of teens, Ivey and Johnston bring some good news that shows what happens when we stop underestimating young people. This accessible book offers an engaging account of a 4-year study of adolescents who went from reluctant to enthusiastic readers. These youth reported that reading not only helped them manage their stress, but also helped them negotiate happier, more meaningful lives. This amazing transformation occurred when their teachers simply allowed them to select their own books, invited them to read with no strings attached, and provided time for them to do so. These students, nearly all of whom reported a previously negative relationship with reading, began to read voraciously inside and outside of school; performed better on state tests; and transformed their personal, relational, emotional, and moral lives in the process. This illuminating book leads readers on a tour of adolescents' reading lives in their own words, offering a long-overdue analysis of students' deep engagement with literature. The text also includes research to inform arguments about what students should and should not read and the consequences of censoring books that interest them. Book Features: Links young adults' reading engagement with socioemotional and intellectual development. Provides nuanced descriptions of teaching practices that facilitate student agency in learning. Features student voices that have been absent in debates about what is appropriate for young people to read and under what circumstances. Connects student perspectives on reading, with positive outcomes of reading, to research from other disciplines. Illuminates the breadth and depth of the responsibilities of teaching English language arts.
Gay Ivey is the William E. Moran Distinguished Professor in Literacy at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and a past president of the Literacy Research Association. Peter Johnston is professor emeritus of literacy teaching and learning at the University at Albany.