Comment Re:In school: BAN EVERYTHING outside public domain (Score 1) 410
I wish the one here inspired kids to read. I get boys from the remedial class with letter jackets boasting that they haven't read a book since junior high, and who check out the same books on which they have been writing reports since grade school (Gary Paulsen). The girls check out either A Child Called "It" or Ellen Hopkins' poem-novels. Every year. Apparently the teachers don't compare notes or just are there to keep them eligible to play.
I am of the opinion that if you can find the right book, you can get a reader for life, but I must confess that, while I can generally match adults with "their" books, I often have trouble with engaging younger readers, and in maintaining their interest on the rare occasion that a book happens to catch them unawares. It's a problem.