Choosing to Read: Connecting Middle Schoolers to Books

Choosing to Read: Connecting Middle Schoolers to Books by Joan Schroeder Kindig is a wonderful professional resource for teachers, librarians, and even parents interested in middle schoolers and their reading habits.  Like many other professional resources I have been reading recently, Kindig argues that a reader’s choice is the most important aspect in creating lifelong readers.  I am sure there are plenty of other books written that argue that the classics and traditional reading classes are vitally important to a child’s education, but I truly believe a choice in reading material will encourage developing readers to want to read more and that’s what’s important.

Choosing to Read was a great resource that explained how to encourage “reluctant” readers to choose reading material, how middle schoolers view their reading experience, and how to find the right book for the right reader and how to create meaningful discussions that teach children how to read successfully and pull information from the text that is important to understanding the story and others.

The interesting part of this book is that eight children and young adult authors provide their own views on the issues as well, reinforcing the author’s view on reader’s choice.  The author also provides a number of booklists in the appendices with very current books as this book was just published last year.  This is a really interesting read that continues to make me think about new ways I can encourage middle schoolers to read at the public library.

Title: Choosing to Read: Connecting Middle Schoolers to Books
Author: Joan Schroeder Kindig
Publisher: Heinemann
Publication Date: 2012
Page Number: 138 pgs.