Reading for Action

With the proliferation of malignant narratives that purport to explain and justify social inequalities, teachers of young people need, more than ever, resources to counter them. Reading for Action provides, with great sensitivity, thought, and insight, precisely such a resource. Highly recommended.  -- Jeff Zentner, William C. Morris Award winning author, “The Serpent King and Goodbye Days”
Boyd and Darragh move the conversation on YA Literature from it potential to meet standards to its ability to help teachers and students address complex issues through social action. They address contemporary issues that engage adolescent concerns by highlighting a diverse YA text. Each chapter illustrates reading strategies for each text and provides ideas for engaging students in social action. They connect each text to parallel canonical selections, other YA offerings, and, my favorite, music.  -- Steven T. Bickmore, Associate Professor of English Education,University of Nevada Las Vegas; curator, Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday Blog
Providing the impetus for embedding social justice in ELA classrooms via young adult literature for teachers forms the focus of this cutting-edge text. The authors offer an additional caveat--guiding teachers toward developing the skills and abilities to create agency in their own students. Those who aspire to a socially just stance in learning will find the suggestions for developing active empathy both inspirational and practical. -- Judith A. Hayn, author, Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights, Considerations, and Perspectives for the Classroom Teacher, Second Edition
This book is an essential resource for educators who want to introduce students to an array of social justice issues with texts that their students will actually want to read.  Containing strategies for teaching contemporary issues with some of the latest and most popular young adult titles, this text also shares strategies for infusing canonical works, music, and other young adult texts into instruction.  In each chapter the authors also provide websites, online videos, articles, and other electronic resources related to the text and topic discussed.  User friendly yet rigorous, Reading for Action is a must for experienced and new teachers alike who are invested in their students, social justice, and culturally responsive instruction. -- Victor Malo-Juvera, assoicate professor, Department of English, University of North Carolina, Wilmington