Into Focus: Understanding and Creating Middle School Readers - Softcover

Kylene Beers is an adjunct assistant professor of children's and young adult literature at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. A former middle school teacher, her interest continues to be finding ways to connect middle schoolers to reading. Kylene presents frequently at both NCTE and IRA, is the co-editor of the journal English in Texas, is a co-author of the "Books for Adolescents" column in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (formerly Journal of Reading), serves as a board member on the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of NCTE, and was co-editor, with Barbara Samuels, of Young Reading: An Annotated Booklist for Middle School and Junior High, 1995-96 Edition. Barbara G. Samuels is an associate professor of language arts and reading at the University of Houston-Clear Lake where she teaches courses in adolescent literature and secondary school reading. She is also director of the Greater Houston Area Writing Project. She is a past president of the Assembly on Literature For Adolescents (ALAN) of NCTE and currently serves on the Board of Special Interest Group on Adolescent Literature (SIGNAL) of IRA. She is a frequent contributor of articles about young adult literature to books and journals and recently Co-edited Your Reading: An Annotated Booklist for Middle School and Junior High, 1995-96 Edition, with Kylene Beers.

In this excellent handbook, 24 experts from the fields of reading theory, library science, response theory, children's literature, and middle school philosophy present strategies, describe programs, and provide lists that foster academic success and a lifelong love of reading. The essays are divided into five broad categories. "A Focus on Middle School Students" looks at developmental stages, reluctant readers, gifted pupils, strategies to reach struggling readers, and understanding the needs of ESL students. "A Focus on Response" covers reader-response theory, thematic units, promoting book discussion, setting up literature circles, and using dialectical journals to build literary response. The next section discusses ways to aid comprehension, the benefits of reading aloud, strategies for reading instructional texts, and reading assessment. A chapter on materials surveys different types of literature as well as CD-ROMs and the Internet. "A Focus on Teachers" presents a model for effective continuing professional development and gives an overview of selection aids that will help educators connect students to books. A list of "Trade Books Cited" provides bibliographic information. A must-have for all middle school teachers, librarians, curriculum coordinators, and administrators.
Joan Hamilton, Pierce School, Brookline, MA
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