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The Leisure Reading Habits of Urban Adolescents

Author(s): Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Pradnya Rodge


Source: Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 51, No. 1 (Sep., 2007), pp. 22-33
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Literacy Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40015543
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The leisure reading habits of urban adolescents

Sandra Hughes-Hassell, Pradnya Rodge

Tie leisure reading habits of urban Schools have begun to tackle the problem of
reading in the middle and high school years by ini-
adolescents hme not been widely studied,
tiating adolescent literacy initiatives. Among the
Research indicates a strung common elements found in the most
Hughes-Hassell teaches at well- regarded programs is a focus on
relationship between leisure !Drexel University (3141
Chestnut Street,
building the habit of leisure reading
reading and school achievement, Philadelphia, PA 19104, (McGrath, 2005). Both qualitative and
USA). E-mail
so educators should deYelop an quantitative studies demonstrate a cor-
sandra.hughes@cis.drexel.
edu. Rodge also teaches at relation between success in school and
understanding of the leisure Drexel University.
the amount of leisure reading students
reading habits of these youth. do (Allington & McGill-Franzen, 2003;
Krashen, 1993). The amount of leisure reading
done outside of school has consistently been found
The literacy needs of urban adolescents are urgent to relate to achievement in vocabulary, reading
(McGrath, 2005). It is not unusual for 70% of comprehension, verbal fluency, and content knowl-
eighth graders in high-poverty, high-minority edge (Krashen, 1993; Short, 1995). Students who
middle schools to comprehend at "below basic" read in their spare time become better readers,
levels (Balfanz, Spiridakis, & Neild, 2002). score higher on achievement tests in all subject ar-
Difficulty with reading negatively impacts achieve- eas, and have more content knowledge than those
ment in all areas of the curriculum. According to who do not (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1991;
Schoenbach, Greenleaf, Cziko, and Hurwitz Krashen, 1993). According to Krashen (1993), "al-
(2000), many adolescents, hit a "literacy ceiling" though free voluntary reading alone will not ensure
when they reach middle and high school. That is, attainment of the highest levels of literacy, it will at
they are unable to "independently access the least ensure an acceptable level" (p. 84).
knowledge and information embedded in the
Leisure reading is the reading students
books and other printed materials that are part of
choose to do on their own, as opposed to reading
a curriculum" (Schoenbach et al, 2000, p. 5). This
that is assigned to them (Mellon, 1990). Also re-
inability interferes with their capacity to accom-
ferred to as voluntary reading, spare time reading,
plish the challenging work necessary to meet high
recreational reading, independent reading, read-
academic standards. Teachers and students alike
ing outside of school, and self-selected reading,
become frustrated. Students come to think of
leisure reading involves personal choice, choosing
themselves as nonreaders or poor readers. Many
what one wants to read, and reading widely from
avoid reading, waiting for the teacher to tell them
a variety of sources - not just books.
what they need to do. Others attempt to become
invisible, while still others act out, creating distrac- While numerous researchers have surveyed
tions to cover up their inadequacies. the leisure reading habits of adolescents (cf. Hart,

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2001; McKenna, Kear, & Ellsworth, 1995; Mellon,


To collect data for this study, teachers were
asked
1990; Moffitt & Wartella, 1992), urban by thehave
youth school librarian to administer a 5-
accounted for only a small percentagepage, 20-item
of the questionnaire focused on factors
re-
related
spondents. If, as the research indicates, to reading
there is a by choice: whether or not ado-
strong relationship between leisure lescents
reading read and
in their leisure time; if so, what,
when, and
school achievement, it only makes sense thatwhyedu-
do they read; the topics and types
cators develop an understanding of of
thecharacters
leisure or people they like to read about;

reading habits of urban adolescents.how theyarticle


This obtain their reading material; who en-
courages them
reports the findings of a study investigating to read; and if they don't read, why
the
not? The questionnaire
leisure reading habits of 584 urban minority mid- contained 16 multiple-
choice questions
dle school students. The study investigated five and 4 open-ended questions: (1)
What was your
aspects of urban adolescent leisure reading: (1) favorite book when you were in
elementary
Do urban adolescents read in their leisure school? (2) In middle school? (3)
time;
What is the best book you've read this year? (4) Is
(2) If they read, what do they read, when do they
there anything else you'd like to tell us about
read, and why do they read; (3) What topics and
reading? Students were also asked to indicate
types of characters or people do they like to read
their gender and age. Thirty-five teachers agreed
about; (4) How do they obtain their reading ma-
to participate.
terial; and (5) Who encourages them to read?
Seven hundred and fifteen students complet-
ed the survey. Data was missing from 131 of the
Design of the study surveys, leaving 584 to be analyzed for the study.
Forty-seven percent of the respondents were male;
The study was conducted in an urban middle
53% were female. The students ranged in age from
school in a large northeastern city in the United
10 to 15 with the median age being 13.
States. The school serves approximately 1,340 stu-
dents in grades 5 through 8. The student Data
bodywere is
analyzed to determine what per-
centage
largely Latino (66%) and African American of respondents, both overall and by gen-
der, claimed
(27%). Eighty-six percent of the students they did or did not read in their spare
qualify
time. For
for free or reduced-cost lunch. Students in nonreaders,
the reasons they gave for not
reading
school score among the lowest in the were examined.
school dis- For readers, factors relat-
trict in reading. Results on the most ing to typesstate
recent of reading material chosen for leisure

assessment of reading, which is givenreading


to allwere analyzed: what, when, and why they
eighth
read; the topics and types of characters or people
graders, indicate that 68% are performing below
they like to read about; how they obtain their read-
basic, 23% basic, and 9% proficient.
ing material; and who encourages them to read.
This school was chosen for two reasons.

First, few surveys of leisure reading habits and at-


titudes have included low- income minority urban Findings
youth. Giving these students voice about their
reading preferences was one of the major goals of
Reading as a leisure activity
this study. Second, a reading incentive program Seventy- two percent of the students indicated
focused on leisure reading is already among the that they engaged in reading as a leisure activity, a
school's literacy initiatives. The school librarian finding that is consistent with other studies of
and principal believe that knowing more about adolescent reading. Twenty-two percent said they
the specific reading habits and preferences of their read "constantly," and 50% indicated they "read
students will allow them to improve this program. when they get a chance." Six percent of the ado-

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Students9
lescents indicated that they do not read; attitudes toward
the other leisure
22% said they read only for school.
reading
Females were more likely to When
read for
students pleas-
were asked if they enjoyed read-
ure than males (78% versus 64%).
ing, 36%This finding
responded is
"yes," 57% responded "some-
consistent with previous studiestimes,"
that andfound
7% responded "no." Again there was
that
female adolescents were more likely than male attitudes of males
some difference between the

andreading
adolescents to engage in leisure females - 42% of the girls responded yes as
(McKenna et al., 1995; Moffittcompared to 31% of the boys.
& Wartella, When asked if they
1992;
had more time would they would read more, 41%
Simpson, 1996). The findings differed, however,
of the students said "yes" and 45% responded
from previous studies in terms of reading prefer-
"probably."
ences. In most studies, girls indicate that they pre-
fer to read realistic fiction, mystery, As Table
and 1 shows, the majority of the stu-
fantasy,
dents indicated
while boys tend to prefer adventure and thataction-
they read in their spare time
for three main reasons: fun and relaxation, to
oriented texts whether choosing fiction or nonfic-
learn new things, and because they were bored.
tion (Zirinsky & Rau, 2001). In this study, both
Fun and relaxation were described in a variety of
males (68%) and females (76%) showed a strong
ways. According to one young woman, "reading is
preference for magazines.
really exciting because you can get into the book
and imagine the story's
The majority (69%) of the students characters." A young man
report-
ed that they read more than two echoed her feelings:
books per "I love making my own ad-
ventures and fantasies while I read." Others de-
month outside of school. Sixteen percent of the
scribed reading as "fascinating," "colorful," and
students indicated that they read less than one
"better than TV."
book per month, and 15% reported that they did
not read books except for school The students who read to learn new things
assignments.
did so
The reading incentive program, "to get better
which hasat it [reading],"
been and "to gain
in place for five years, rewards knowledge."
students Many of
forthe students
read- recognized that
the more they read, the better readers they be-
ing books. This may account for the large per-
come. Comments included, "Reading is good for
centage of students who indicated that they read
everybody because you learn more about read-
more than two books per month outside of
ing;" "You can do better at reading if you read;" "I
school.
learn new strategies;" and "Reading helps your
The students seemed to do most of their level get improved." The adolescents who read to
reading after school or at night. Only 17% of the gain knowledge were interested in satisfying their

students indicated that they read on the weekend. curiosity about special topics, improving their
grades in school, or learning how to cope with
Reading during summer vacation was also not
obstacles in life. One student, for example, said
popular with either gender. Only 15% of the
she liked to read about "fashion tips and also
males and 20% of the girls reported that they
hairstyles." Another one mentioned his favorite
continue to read for pleasure during the summer
hip-hop recording artists. Some students saw
months. This is particularly troubling because re-
reading as a way to improve their grades in
search shows that summer reading is critical to school. According to one young woman, "Books
summer learning, especially for low performing are fun to read because you can put your grades
or disadvantaged students (Allington & McGill- up." Others used reading as bibliotherapy. One
Franzen, 2003; Kim, 2004; Schacter, 2003). student explained, "I like reading books about

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1

Table 1

If you read, why do you like to read? Check all that apply.

Reason Males (%) Females (%) Total (%)

For fun 54 62 58

To learn something/it's educational 43 52 48


It's relaxing 69 28 47
Because I'm bored 39 52 46

It's exciting 22 46 35
I get attached to characters 27 40 34
For brain stimulation 26 22 24
For a time filler 17 16 17
For motivation 17 13 16

For escape 15 18 16

kids my age Comments included,


that "Libraries should have
have been bet- aba
abused. Like I ter
was.
books;" "For me It
reading ishelps
fun, but I can't al- me fi
deal and confront it."
ways find the books I like;" and "I wish there were
magazines." Among other reasons given for not
Forty-six percent of the adoles
reading were, "It makes my head and eyes hurt"
reading as a way to relieve bor
and "I would read more if my little brother wasn't
lescent put it, "Reading is fun if
always bothering me." Several of the students also
nothing to do." Escapism was a
indicated that they read better in Spanish, and
of their leisure reading. Reading
wrote their comments in Spanish.
stressing yourself out," "takes y
life problems," and "takes me to
been." One Leisure reading materials
student even menti
keeps you out of trouble."
Magazines were clearly the preferred leisure read-
Those who did not
ing material for both males and enjoy
females (see Table read
prefer other activities rather
3). Top choices for males included magazines th
of reading (see Table 2).
about sports, video games, and music. The fe- Respon
that they would rather
males chose music watch
magazines as their favorite, fol- te
time with their
lowed by friends, surf
fashion/beauty and video games. Comic the
video games. books and the Internet were also favorites
Several students for m
clubbing" and leisure
"flirting with
reading, with 44% of the students indicat- boy
reading. ing that they liked to read comic books and 37%

Variations on the statement "I have trouble choosing the Internet. Books accounted for only
30% of the students' leisure reading materials.
reading" appeared on the questionnaires of 29%
of the nonreaders. One student's response was Celebrities, "people or characters like me,"
particularly poignant: "I need help reading be- sports figures, and musicians are among the most
cause I am not good. Please help me." The lack of popular topics for the respondents' leisure read-
appealing resources was another common theme. ing (see Table 4). Fifty-six percent were interested

JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT & ADULT LITERACY 81:1 SEPTEMBER 2007 25

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Table 2

If you don't read, why not? Check all that apply.

Reasons Males (%) Females (%) Total (%)

Rather watch TV 36 31 35

Rather spend time with friends 31 35 33


Like other activities better 33 31 32

Trouble concentrating/not good


at reading 28 30 29
Rather surf the Web 34 24 29

Too busy/no time 24 29 27


Can't find a good book 23 25 24
Rather play video games 35 15 24
Reading makes me tired 19 27 23
Too much school work 23 23 23

Girls more interesting 49 3 22


Boys more interesting 5 33 20
Reading is boring/not fun 20 16 18
Can't get into stories 19 18 18

Table 3

What do you like to read? Check all that apply.

Material Males (%) Females (%) Total (%)

Magazines 68 76 72
Fashion/beauty 13 63 40
Sports 68 19 42
News, like Time or Newsweek 9 9 9
Video games 54 44 49
Music 49 76 63

Entertainment 35 37 36
Puzzle 35 35 35
Science 18 13 16

Comics 54 34 44
Internet 38 36 37

Books for pleasure 29 30 30


Newspapers 24 16 20

in celebrities, While both


especially gende
girls. Si
of the boys ingreading
liked about other
about
50% of the ters
girls like me"
reported anor "
int

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Table 4
What do you like to read about? Check all that apply.

Topic Males (%) Females (%) Total (%)


Celebrities 44 67 56

Sports figures 63 23 43
People/characters like me 31 54 43
Musicians 34 50 42

People my age who have


cool or amazing things 38 47 42
Animals 44 34 39

Fantasy characters 43 33 38
People/characters my age who are
wrestling with tough issues, like
drug abuse or crime 28 41 35
People/characters a lot different
from me 23 38 31

Historical figures 18 18 18

are wrestling with tough


Bridge
issues"),
to Terabithia
girls showed
(Pater
slight preference. The
(Paulsen,
least popular
1987), and
topic
Tuck
for E
b
genders was 1975).
historical Again,
figures. few multicul
The exceptions included tw
Three of the open-ended questions asked
Taylor {The Gold Cadillac a
students to tell us their favorite book - in elem
several biographies about s
tary school, middle school, and this school yea
and famous African Amer
Favorite books in elementary school include
novels set in inner-city ne
Cat in the Hat (Seuss, 1957); the Arthur series
several titles referred to as
Marc Brown; Green Eggs and Ham (Seuss, 19
Coldest Winter Ever (Soulj
Clifford, The Big
Red Dog (Bridwell, 2002); and
Game (Woods, 1994), Flyy
Goosebumps series by R.L. Stein. Only four mu
Drive-By (Ewing, 1996).
cultural titles were mentioned by the 500 stud
who answered this question: A Chair for My
Mother (Williams, Sources
1982); Jimmy Lee Did It
(Cummings, 1985); The Black Snowman (Men
Students indicated that they get their reading ma-
1989); and Bud, Not Buddy (Curtis, 1999).
terial from three primary sources: the school li-
There was a great brary
deal (71%), of overlap
the public between
library (53%), and the th
titles the adolescents listed as their favorite
classroom (53%). Forty- three percent of the stu- boo

middle school and the best


dents also checked book they
bookstore. There have
is a bilingual rea
this school year. Many of the
Spanish-English titles
bookstore on both
in the neighborhood list
were from the school's
that hosts required reading
a monthly Meet the Author series, reg- list: T
Outsiders (Hinton, ular
1967), Crash
poetry readings, and an annual(Spinelli,
book fair. 199

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Students may also be frequenting bookstores be- teachers and librarians promote magazine read-
cause the street literature titles they mention are ing by providing and circulating magazines in
often not available at school libraries due to age- both library and classroom collections. The best
appropriate issues. way to select magazines is to involve students.
Survey students, but also browse grocery stores
and local bookstores to observe the magazines
Specific influences adolescents are buying. Black Beat, Jet, Latina,

The final factor studied was who encourages Low Rider, Sister to Sister, Slam, Source, Teen en

these adolescents to read. It was not surprising Espanol, Urban Latino, Word Up, WWE, and XXL
that parents and teachers topped the list, with are among the magazines popular with urban
70% of the adolescents choosing parents and adolescents. Many of these magazines are also

63% selecting teachers. Librarians were chosen by available online, thus increasing accessibility, in-
40% of the students - 27% of the students chose teractivity, and reader participation.

school librarian and 13% chose public librarian. Comic books were also listed as a favorite
Fifteen percent of the teens indicated that their reading material. Many teachers and librarians
friends encouraged them to read. have successfully used comic books to engage re-
luctant readers (cf. Norton, 2003; Versaci, 2001).
Marvel and CrossGen currently have comics
Implications for teachers and available on DVD. The DVDs include original
librarians comic-book art, enlarged word balloons, voice-
overs reading the text, and music. This format not
The March 2005 issue of Educational Leadership only appeals to visual learners but also makes it
challenges educators to look to urban schools for easier to circulate comics.
solutions to school problems (Scherer, 2005). The
Two other popular formats related to comic
adolescents who completed our survey are clearly
books are the graphic novel and manga. Both are
able to aid educators in this endeavor and provid-
ed several recommendations we need to consider good for youth who read English as a second lan-
guage or on a lower reading level, because the
as we strive to support their literacy development.
simple sentences and visual cues allow the reader
Provide the types of materials students prefer. to comprehend the story (Jones et al., 2004).
Theses materials include magazines, comic books, Graphic novels are book-length stories published
and the Internet. Teachers should recognize this in comic-book style. In addition to outstanding
type of reading as legitimate. Adults often send artwork, many feature complex characters, well-
the message that the only reading that is reading developed story lines, and literary devices like
is books (Beers, 1996; Mellon, 1990). If we want foreshadowing and allusion. Manga is "typified
urban students to engage in leisure reading, per- by characters with large eyes, most often pub-
haps the first thing we need to do is expand our lished in black and white, and increasingly print-
definition of reading. ed in the Japanese fashion - reading right to left"
(Jones et al., 2004, p. 131). Selecting graphic nov-
Magazines are without question the favorite
els and manga has become easier now that Voice
leisure reading material of these students.
of Youth Advocates, School Library Journal, and
Adolescents are drawn to magazines for a number
Booklist regularly feature reviews.
of reasons, including the number and quality of
pictures, the speed with which information can It was not surprising that another popular
be gathered from magazines, the "coolness" fac- medium listed by these students was the Internet.
tor, and the reading level (Jones, Gorman, & The Pew Internet & Life Project found that 87%
Suellentrop, 2004). Our research suggests that of those between the ages of 12 and 17 are online

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(Lenhart, Madden, & Hitlin, 2005). The wide-


Webb, 2005) provides a list of young adult titles
set in urban communities.
spread use of the Internet by adolescents means
our definition of reading has to expand to include
Many of the students in this study indicated
websites, e-books, e-mail, discussion boards, chat
that they read best in Spanish. If our goal is to
rooms, instant messaging, and listservs (Schmar-
foster their love of reading then we need to pro-
Dobler, 2003). One way to legitimize and pro-
vide materials in their first language. Given their
mote Internet reading is to develop websites for
preference for magazines, educators who work
students. Websites can be used to connect urban
with urban youth might consider buying maga-
adolescents and recommended websites about
zines and newspapers in Spanish. This has the po-
their favorite topics, but they can also be used to
tential to accomplish two goals: it can get
extend the reading community. The Internet has
students to read and can engage them in conver-
made it possible for students to interact with
sations about reading with their parents, many of
readers from around the world, communicate
whom only speak Spanish.
with authors, and explore the "text- worlds" of
their favorite books (Mackey, 2001). Many school Talk to students. Find out what they are passion-
and public libraries have established book discus- ate about. As we invite urban adolescents to read,
sion blogs aimed at adolescents. The Parent Child we must remain open to their reading interests by
Book Club Blog provides a forum for adolescents providing and promoting the reading materials
to discuss young adult literature with their par- about topics that are of interest to them. As

ents (parentchild.blogspot.com). Allington (1994) pointed out, personal interest


"remains the most potent factor in the develop-
Respect students' culture and heritage. Teachers ment of reading processes" (p. 21).
can do this by providing multicultural resources
that are relevant to students' lives, as well as re- Reading about celebrities, sports figures,

sources in their first language. The number of


and musicians is popular with these students. In
addition to magazines and the Internet, nonfic-
multicultural titles published each year, while still
tion books can also provide students with av-
inadequate, has increased steadily over the last
decade, and there are a number of authors, in- enues for exploring pop culture. For many
adolescents, nonfiction serves the same purposes
cluding Walter Dean Myers, Jacqueline Woodson,
as fiction does for other readers: "it entices, pro-
Sandra Cisneros, Gary Soto, Rita Williams-Garcia,
vides escape, sparks the imagination, and in-
Jess Mowry, and Sharon Flake, who are specifically
dulges curiosity" (Sullivan, 2001, p. 44).
writing young adult novels set in urban commu-
nities. Novels such as these offer confirmation and Nonfiction books published today contain quality
pictures, lots of captions, and sidebars - features
validation of the lives of urban youth, as well as le-
that make them especially appealing to students
gitimization of their inner-city cultures. The best
who have short attention spans, prefer visual
of these books also counteract stereotypes of ur-
mediums, or are reluctant readers. While many
ban adolescents by creating characters that, in the
professional journals contain reviews of nonfic-
details of their lives, challenge social expectations
tion, the real "pop" stuff often does not get re-
borne of stereotype. They do this by featuring
viewed. The best way to locate it is to visit a
adolescents, both male and female, who, for exam-
bookstore or, better yet, have students select titles
ple, are successful in school and plan to attend col-
from an online bookstore (Jones et al., 2004).
lege, understand and choose to avoid the dangers
of drug use, and leave gang life behind (Hughes- Graphic nonfiction is also popular with ado-
Hassell & Guild, 2002; Tatum, 2005; Younker & lescents. Similar in format to graphic novels, graph-
Webb, 2005). Mind the Gap: What's Missing in ic nonfiction covers a range of subjects, as
Realistic Teen Fiction About Minorities (Younker & demonstrated by the following titles: Still I Rise: A

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iM'lllg

Perhaps
Cartoon History of African Americans (Laird & the first step is to increase access to
books and
Laird, 1997) and Dignifying Science: Stories other reading materials in the summer
About
for urban
Women Scientists (Ottaviani, 2000). Again, youth. Access to books has been found
visual
to be
cues make graphic nonfiction especially positively associated with the amount of in-
appealing
dependent
to reluctant readers and English-language reading students do in the summer
learners
(Jones etal., 2004). (Kim, 2004), yet there is large disparity between
access based on socioeconomic status and ethnic-
Give students time during the school ity
day to read.
(Ferguson, 2002). To address this disparity,
This is particularly important for economically
school districtsdis-
might consider keeping school li-
advantaged urban students who often braries
have open
to work
in the summer (parents could be
to improve financial conditions at home and
trained to may
oversee the libraries), asking private
not have a place or the resources to read texts of
foundations for funding to purchase literacy ma-
their choice outside of school (Fisher, terials
2004). for low-income youth, and developing
Sustained silent reading programs have packets
been of found
materials that students can borrow for
the summer.
effective with at-risk students if they are thought-
fully designed and consistently implemented overfocused
Book clubs a on the reading interests
sustained period of time (Fisher, 2004;ofWorthy,
urban teenagers also have potential for pro-
Turner, & Moorman, 1998). Key factors include
moting summer reading. A Teen Street Lit Book
professional development for teachers, access
Club, toataone of the branches of the Free
formed
wide variety of appealing reading materials, follow-
Library of Philadelphia, was originally scheduled
up activities that encourage further voluntary read-
to run for four weeks. The members enjoyed the
book club so much that they kept coming back
ing, modeling by teachers and administrators,
for a total
informal accountability, and time to read of 16 weeks - four times the length of
(Fisher,
2004; Pilgreen, 2000). time originally promoted. When asked, "Why do
you still want to have the book club?" one teen
Provide adequate funds for school and classroom
explained that the book club was fun and "kept
libraries in low-income urban communities. For
them off the streets with something positive to
these students, and many others in low- income ar-
do" (Morris, Hughes-Hassell, Agosto, & Cottman,
eas, school is the primary source for students' read-
in press). Many of the book club members had
ing materials (Worthy et al, 1998); yet urban read virtually every title in the street lit genre pri-
school districts are less likely to adequately fund or to joining the club, and they already knew of
school libraries than their suburban counterparts forthcoming titles.
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2005).
Another program that has proven extremely
Classroom libraries in low- income communities
popular with urban adolescents is the Free
tend to be smaller (Hunter, 2004). Schools need to
Library of Philadelphia's Teen Author Series
recognize that investments in school libraries reach
(McCaffrey, 2005). This program connects ado-
all students in the school and that the payoff is im- lescents with a "who's who" list of American writ-
proved student achievement (Loertscher, 2005).
ers, including minority authors like Ilyasah
Encourage summer reading. Whether measured Shabazz and Julia Alvarez. The adolescents receive

by the number of books read, the time spent free copies of the authors' books and get to inter-

reading, or regularity of library usage, summer act with the authors as they speak about their
books, their lives, and the process of writing.
reading is critical to summer learning (Allington
& McGill-Franzen, 2003; Heyns, 1978; Kim, Partner with parents to promote and encourage
2004). Only 17% of the students in this study re- leisure reading. Numerous studies show that par-
ported that they continue to read in the summer. ents play a significant role in developing and sus-

30 JOURNAL OF HOLESCEiT 1 ADULT LITERACY 51:1 SEPlEliEi IMJ

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taining the leisure reading habits of children and


terial) does not correlate positively with higher
adolescents (Kim, 2004; Strommen & Mates, levels of literacy. Several researchers have found
2004). Chandler (1999) found that this is particu-
that light reading does not automatically result in
larly true for students from working-class back-an ability to read advanced material (Hafner,
Palmer, & Tullos, 1986). Thorndike (1973) found
grounds who often experience confusion because
of the disjunction between literary experiences that,
at for middle school students, the types of
home and school. She suggested the following reading that correlated best with improved read-
strategies that enlist parents as "literacy- teaching
ing comprehension were (a) humor; (b) history
partners": surveying parents to gather data thatand biography, (c) science fiction, myths, and leg-
ends; and (d) adventure and current events.
will help teachers select texts that match the inter-
ests/cultures of the students, designing instruction-
Yet another explanation might focus on how
al activities in which parents can participate, and
educators are using, or not using, these students'
inviting parents to join literature discussion groups
preferred reading materials in the classroom.
with their children (Chandler, 1999, p. 236).
When educators use magazines, comic books,
Be passionate about your love of reading. In or-
graphic novels, nonfiction, and the Internet as in-
der to sustain and encourage the reading habits of
structional materials, does it affect the reading lev-
adolescent readers - even the most avid readers - els of students? And finally, perhaps the
educators must extend the reading community. assessment instruments we use do not provide a
As Zirinsky and Rau (2001) pointed out, "many way for students, such as these, who primarily
readers fall away from reading without the sup- read magazines and comic books, to demonstrate
port of a mentor or a community of readers" (p. their strengths as readers. How can we expand our
19). Display the books you are currently reading. assessment strategies to allow us to understand
Join students in their reading conversations by the strengths developed by these materials and use
letting them know what you read when you are the results to develop instructional strategies that
on vacation, riding the train to work, or prepar- help them become better readers?
ing for bed. Be a reader yourself.

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