The Book Whisperer (11 page)

Does expecting every student to read the genre requirements always work? No, it doesn't. Every year, I have students who are so attached to their beloved genres that, in fact, they do not meet the genre requirements. One year, Tommy, a staunch fantasy fan, read sixty-five fantasy and science fiction books but avoided almost every other genre of book. Like Randy, his identity as a reader was strong. He knew what he liked, and he enjoyed the freedom to read whatever he wanted. I tried to entice him with other books, but if he showed no interest, I did not press the issue. I got it this time, and left Tommy to read what he wanted. Is there anyone who doubts that Tommy is a reader because he did not complete my structured genre requirements?

Reading widely expands a reader's knowledge of a variety of texts, but there are benefits to reading deeply in one genre, too. Talking with Tommy for two minutes revealed the depth of knowledge he had acquired about fortresses, armaments, mythology, and medieval history from all of those fantasy books. He also understood complex literary ideas like tone, allegory, and character archetypes right away when I taught them, having already discovered multiple examples from his books.

Madison did not meet her requirements, either. She was neither an enthusiastic nor a fast reader when she came to our class, and she did not find much joy in reading. With encouragement and lots of recommendations from her classmates and me, Madison read twenty-six books in sixth grade. She read more books that year than she had read on her own since starting school, a monumental achievement. Madison's preferences in books mirrored her favorite topics. She enjoyed realistic fiction about teen issues like popularity and dating. Without a community of readers to support her and the expectation of daily reading, Madison most likely will never read this much again.

Students who enjoy the social aspects of school, like Madison, read when it is required to participate in the culture of a class, but may not do so when the classroom climate changes. This point is particularly relevant in middle school, when students' behavior is dictated by what their peers value. Madison read because all of her friends in class did. Don't overlook the peer pressure and the need to belong that all adolescents succumb to as a powerful force in motivating students to read. I have seen many students pick up a book because it was recommended by a friend when they might not do so otherwise.

I refuse to take the control of students' reading back from them, even when they don't want it. Take Brandon as an example. The first two days of school, Brandon broke down and told me that he was never going to be able to read all of the books I expected him to because he hated to read and was not a good reader. He reluctantly chose
Well-Wished
, by Franny Billingsley, because a girl he liked in class was reading it. I would never have recommended this book to an active, sporty boy like Brandon. The readers who seemed to love this book were dreamy, fantasy-loving girls. Predictably, Brandon labored through this book for almost a month. At first, I cheerily asked Brandon how it was going. He would mumble that it was going OK, but I knew he wasn't in love with the book and he wasn't reading it very much.

I begged Brandon to abandon the book and choose another one, but I realized that this is exactly what Brandon was trying to avoid. Abandoning
Well-Wished
would mean he had to choose another book, and he did not want another book; he did not want
any
book. I think Brandon hoped I would give up, but he underestimated me and himself. I am sure that Brandon had been able to wear down teachers before me, managing to skirt the reading issue altogether.

My new tactic was to show Brandon stacks of books that he might enjoy more—books about boys having adventures. I simply kept plying him with books, stacks and stacks of books. We still talked about books at every conference, but now we talked about books Brandon might read instead of the one he wasn't reading. He finally gave in one day and chose
Hatchet
, by Gary Paulsen. Brandon read the first half of
Hatchet
begrudgingly, but he fell in love with it and sped through the last fifty pages. He proudly announced it to me when he was on the last chapter and then asked, “Do you have any of the other
Hatchet
books?” Now he is plowing through all of the Brian stories (God bless the prolific Gary Paulsen!) and planning camping trips—a Paulsen-inspired interest—with his family.

By refusing to take responsibility for Brandon reading or not reading, I forced him to take it. Reading was previously an act that the teacher controlled for him, and therefore, in his mind, failing to read was not his fault.

My goal for all of my students is for them to discover that they can be readers, but some of them struggle with going from no reading to a great deal of reading in one school year. It is important to celebrate milestones with students and focus on their reading successes, not their failure to meet requirements, which only serves to discourage students. Instead, I encourage and ask questions: “Did you read more than you thought you would?” “How many books did you read last year?” “Wow, look at how many more you read this year! Did you read books that you enjoyed?” “What surprised you about that?” When a student like Grant tells me that he had read one book in his entire life and that this year he had read twenty-three by March, how can I do anything other than celebrate and encourage him?

Another characteristic of readers is that we read for pure escapism sometimes. How many adolescent readers are reading books that adults deem to be of limited nutritional value as part of their reading diet? I need only look at what my own students are reading to learn everything I need to know. Andrew, who is not an avid reader, is currently absorbed in the book series that follows the story arc of his favorite video game, Halo. Bryce is reading an anthology of collected
Star Wars
stories. Lauren and Patty cannot get enough manga, Japanese comic books. And Tiffany is recommending Caroline Cooney's mystery
The Face on the Milk Carton
to all of her friends. None of these books would appear on a list of best books for young readers, but my students love to read them. No matter what books I try to provide for my students via our class library or recommend for them to read, I need to acknowledge some of their less-than-highbrow choices in reading material, too.

Books that are widely read are not always the books by the most esteemed authors or with the best reviews. Similarly, many of the books that are touted as works of great literary value are not read by many readers. Readers travel through both worlds, that of high art and that of popular culture. I believe that every American should read the Pulitzer Prize winner
To Kill a Mockingbird
, but I think they should also read Stephen King's cult classic
The Shining
. The books I choose to read with students, use in my teaching, or offer in my library may be different books than the ones I would wholeheartedly embrace for students' reading. By allowing and encouraging students to read what they want, I also endorse their culture and their interests—something we do not do enough in school.

Lucy Calkins's words from
The Art of Teaching Writing
remind us, “Our
...
workshop will not feel alive and significant if our students sit through it bored and uninvolved, waiting for the bell to ring and life to begin.” Teachers lose credibility with students when they ignore the cultural trends and issues that interest them and instead design classroom reading instruction around books that are “good for you.” There is a certain amount of disdain from teachers in regard to popular fiction for children because some of those books are mind candy, but I'd bet that some of those teachers go home and read escapist books like
Shopaholic
or a James Patterson thriller and never make the connection. Are we teaching books or teaching readers? I would rather have my students read books of questionable literary value than not read at all. Once students find at least one book they like and receive approval for reading books of their own choice, it is easier to move them toward books you suggest.

Take Mary, for example. She was not a big reader when she came to my class. She had read only one book that she really enjoyed,
The Day My Butt Went Psycho
, by Andy Griffiths. This book, the first in a trilogy, follows a small-town teenager whose backside and those of his fellow townspeople reveal themselves as an alien race of beings intent on world domination. Yes, they are from the planet Uranus. Mary suggested the book to me and offered to loan me her much-read copy. Setting aside my teacher hat and addressing the issue reader to reader, I did what readers do when someone recommends a book with such enthusiasm; I took the book and read it. Filled with gross body humor, awful puns, and an outrageous plotline, if this book added to Mary's vocabulary, they were probably words she didn't need to know.

What really mattered was that it meant everything to Mary that I had read this book and we were able to laugh about it for the entire year. Because I trusted and validated her as a reader, Mary trusted herself. From then on, she took many of my recommendations for more inspiring reading material. She moved on to more sophisticated novels and developed a love for historical fiction. By the time she left my class, Mary's favorite book of all time was
Girl in Blue
, by Ann Rinaldi, a novel about a girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to fight in the Civil War. A lot of students who start out reading books like
The Day My Butt Went Psycho
because they are immature as readers, do not have much experience in choosing books for themselves, or have not had much guidance. Most will branch out and broaden their repertoire of books with support from a more experienced reader. This is where you, the teacher, come in. What we must do is give our approval when students make their own reading choices, no matter what books they choose, because this is far preferable to their deciding not to read at all.

Especially with boys, I think letting them read books that are provocative or borderline appropriate, such as Robert Cormier's controversial
The Chocolate War
and
The Rag and Bone Shop
or Christopher Paul Curtis's shocking
Bucking the Sarge
, is motivating. What draws middle school and high school boys to the edgy themes of certain movies and video games, the visceral imagery, the suggestive scenes, the subversive tone can be found in young adult books; they just don't know it. One year, I had a whole group of boys who passed around
The Chocolate War
because they couldn't believe that a book could explore bullying and the teenage boy's experience in such a raw, honest way.

Teachers and parents often scorn the type of reading that boys most enjoy. Who cares if they want to read a book with bathroom humor or car crashes? Why should these boys read at all if they can never find their interests or relatable characters in the books adults steer them toward? I want to show the boys in my class that they can find themselves in books and can make reading an avenue for pursuing the topics that consume their attention.

I teach sixth graders, so many of the books I read aloud to them are particular to this age and their concerns about moving into middle school. The first book I read aloud every year is
Tripping Over the Lunch Lady
, edited by Nancy Mercado, an anthology of school stories by popular authors. The stories cover a range of topics of interest to my students—being the new kid, having dyslexia, and the challenges of working with a group of strangers to complete a class project. We also share-read (I read and students follow along in their own copy)
The Sixth Grade Nickname Game
, by Gordon Korman, a favorite author year in and year out. No need to explain why I choose this realistic story about a group of sixth graders who are not the best readers but manage to ace the state reading exam by power-reading tons of books.

The memoirs of Gary Paulsen are also a consistent favorite. Paulsen's novels—like the survival classic
Hatchet—
are superb, but his personal memoirs, including his own survival tale
Guts
; the memorial to his beloved dogs,
My Life in Dog Years
; and the tales of his extreme stunts as a teenager,
How Angel Peterson Got His Name
, are annual hits. Because students' limited encounters with biographies and autobiographies usually start with a research assignment, they come into my class thinking that these types of books are dry time lines recounting the accomplishments of dead heroes. Paulsen's personal adventures can broaden a student's appreciation for reading about the lives of other people.

By reading these selections and others with my students early in the year, I expose them to about fifteen widely published fiction authors who are popular and interesting to young readers. These shared reading experiences enable me to make recommendations by connecting new books by the same authors to the stories we have enjoyed as a class. The following list of read-aloud favorites includes a range of titles from popular authors and genres for use with your class. The suggested age range for elementary titles is third through fifth grades; for intermediate titles, it is sixth through eighth grades. Elementary titles may also be a good fit for intermediate grades, and intermediate titles may work in elementary grades, depending on the needs or interests of your particular group of students. You may have your personal read-aloud favorites, but remember that my purpose for reading these books is to share several high-interest books with students as an introduction to authors who have written many other books that students can read on their own.