Teens Choosing to Read: Fostering Social, Emotional, and Intellectual Growth Through Books

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. PeterJohnston is professor emeritus of literacy teaching and learning at the University at Albany.