Welcome to What to Read: An Adolescent Literature Website. This website was designed to be a resource for both teachers and students. It is a place to explore and find out about a book that you might like to read or a book to recommend to a student.
I have tried to make the navigation of this site simple. On the home page, you may click on "Topic" and see a listing of book reviews available under nine different categories. By clicking on "Author", you can search for your favorite author listed alphabetically. By clicking on "Genre", you will find the reviews arranged under the categories of Novels, Poetry, Short Stories, and Plays. When you cick on "Guest Comments", you can read what other people have said about books they have read. I am most happy about the interactive element which allows people to respond to the literature that they have been reading. By clicking on "submit your own comments" on the home page, or by clicking on "add your comments" on the guest comments page, students and teachers alike can publish their thoughts about books for the world to read.
I am a graduate student at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Having taught English in both high school and middle school, I felt a real need to create this internet space. It is so important to encourage reading. I was called on many times to assign books for my students to read and to help them choose something to read on their own. I felt a real responsibility to suggest something that they would enjoy as well as meet their needs academically. But, I have not read everything. And I always felt inadequate in that area.
As a graduate student enrolled in EDIS 451 ( Adolescent Literature), I have been exposed to wonderful books and thoughtful commentaries which were written by my colleagues. It occurred to me that other people should have the opportunity to read and enjoy these insightful analyses of the literature. I would have welcomed the help when I was in the classroom. I wanted to create a larger audience for those reviews.
I also thought about how it felt to be a student. Book reports were agony for me to write, and I'm sure they were equally as deadly for my teachers to read. However, I have noticed that students enjoy talking about books and sharing what they loved with others. This webpage gives them a real audience for their thoughts, a world-wide audience, which is very impressive indeed. It is my belief that, given the audience, students will attend to their writing more closely and may view the boring book report as a way to express themselves to a larger and more critical audience.
I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Dr. Strzepek, my professor, and the students of EDIS 541 Adolescent Literature who allowed me to use their reviews on my web page. I also need to mention two saintly men, professor Dr. Jim Huneycutt and Paul Gorski (Academic Uses of the World Wide Web), whose good nature and perseverence never faltered as they dragged me, kicking and screaming, down the information highway. They were able to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of moving me from a person who didn't know how to turn on a computer to the computer geek that I am today.
I hope that you find the site helpful. Thank you for visiting my site.
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