Reading Engagement for Tweens and Teens: What Would Make Them Read More?

Merga effectively uses recent research, much of it her own, to provide a broad overview of how educators can support teens and tweens as independent, impassioned readers. Young people relate anecdotes about their reading lives and the importance of adult role models. The author confronts common myths, such as boys not being readers and young people preferring ebooks over print titles. The strategies that Merga offers, including sustained silent reading, modeling, reading aloud, and the use of social engagement (e.g., peer recommendations), will likely be well known to teachers and librarians. However, the research that the author cites makes this book an excellent advocacy tool for the role of school librarians as literacy leaders. Librarians will be particularly interested in the sections exploring how choice and access to books through libraries are essential to engaging teen readers, though the book could have included more information on how learning commons and flexible spaces can support these goals.