Reading Engagement for Tweens and Teens

Margaret K. Merga, PhD, is a senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University, in Western Australia. She has conducted six substantial research projects that explore social influences on reading engagement from the early years to adulthood.

Identifies evidence-backed and easy-to-implement strategies for encouraging young people to read, and helps you to position your library as an indispensable resource for supporting reading.While most reading research focuses on young children, this book looks at how to support reading beyond the early years and into adulthood. Reporting on strong, peer-reviewed research supported by sound theoretical and methodological approaches, it emphasizes the practical implications of these findings, sharing what this means for you in terms of how you can be a powerful positive reading model and influence in young people's lives.Enriched with the voices of today's young people, the book includes quotes that allow readers to decide how to support reading engagement for tweens and teens based on what would make them read more, as expressed in their own words. Engaging and readable, it will be of interest to school and public librarians and can be shared with teachers, parents, and other literacy instructors and advocates.

Highlights the importance of access to books and provides evidence for the role of libraries as reading-supportive spaces

CONTENTSIntroductionChapter 1: Why is Book Reading (Still) Important?Chapter 2: From Learning to Read to Reading to Learn: Why Does Reading for Pleasure Fall by the Wayside?Chapter 3: Are Books Really Uncool?Chapter 4: Myths about Boys, and Why They Get OxygenChapter 5: Powerful ParentsChapter 6: The Myth of the eBook Loving Digital NativesChapter 7: What Would Make Young People Read More Books?Chapter 8: Reading is For Pleasure, Not Just TestingChapter 9: Libraries, Reading Spaces, and ChoicesChapter 10: Final ThoughtsAppendix I: Research ProjectsReferencesIndex