Naked Reading: Uncovering What Tweens Need to Become Lifelong Readers » (1st Edition)

Naked Reading was inspired by the author's ten-year-old granddaughter, whose frequent practice of spending time after a shower air-drying in the privacy of the bathroom, so she can continue reading an engrossing book, made Teri Lesesne curious about what makes some tweens avid readers while others elect not to read or become dormant readers.

Not yet fully young adults, but—as they are quick to tell you—no longer "little kids," these nine-to-fourteen-year-olds are at a stage where every day brings new emotions and physical growth, when habits become ingrained, and when tastes are established.

For teachers, the tween years can be the best and worst of times. While some fourth-to-ninth-graders come to see books as a lifeline for understanding a changing world, too many experience "the fourth-grade slump"—a marked decline in interest and achievement in reading. Without help, many become middle and high school students who have stopped reading for pleasure, and only slog through what is assigned.

Teri draws on her extensive experience as a teacher and consultant to examine ways that educators can help interest kids in books and keep them reading during this crucial period. She looks at:

• developmental attributes of tweens
• emerging interests for tweens
• themes and plots tweens find most engaging
• annotations for scores of children's and YA literature most appropriate for tweens practical classroom activities for sparking tween engagement in reading

As in her previous book, Making the Match, Naked Reading is loaded with specific titles to help you connect kids with books that will interest them themost.

VOYA

Many happy childhood readers find themselves disenchanted with reading when they reach adolescence. It is an especially rough time to lose touch with the solace of reading because young adolescents often feel alone and alienated. Lucky young readers encounter an adult like Teri Lesesne, who well understands both the mindset of early adolescents and the myriad of books written for that age group. Lesesne examines obstacles that divert tweens from the company of books. She begins by looking at the psychological needs of adolescents, making helpful book suggestions that might target these needs. For example, Lesesne sites the work of Kantrowitz and Springen, who compiled a list of qualities essential for adolescent development called the Five Cs (competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring). Lesesne matches books with each of these qualities. Competence, for example, is matched with Chasing Vermeer, Love That Dog, Drawing Lessons, Matchit, and Sparks. This insightful connection between appropriate psychological development and specific young adult titles is one of the elements that makes this book essential for middle school teachers and librarians. Most of the book is targeted toward teachers, with numerous ways to prescribe reading assignments and suggestions for motivating students. But anyone with an interest in connecting tweens with literature will find inspiration here. Lesesne really knows her books. A lengthy appendix includes approximately 200 books suitable for middle school students, with annotations. Lesesne's zeal for her subject is highly infectious, making it a must-read for anyone working with tweens.

Acknowledgments     vii
Introduction     1
Naked Reading: The Bare Essentials     7
Books Tweens Prefer to Read: Some Suggestions from the Kids Themselves     23
Motivating Tween Reading: Looking at Results from Surveys and Interviews     35
How Can We Energize Tweens? T-A-R-G-E-T: Six Ways for Teachers to Reconnect Kids to Books     49
What Can We Do to Follow Up Reading? A Baker's Dozen of Un-Book Report Ideas     67
Afterword     87
More Than One Hundred Great Books for Tweens     91
Bibliography     113