Introduction.
Part 1: Literacy and Identity.
Selections describe the different ways people see themselves as
readers.
1. ?Sharon Cho,? from Speaking of Reading
(Sharon Cho).
2. ?Kevin Clarke,? from Speaking of Reading
(Kevin Clarke).
3. ?Inside Out,? from The Circuit: Stories from
the Life of a Migrant Child (Francisco Jimenez).
4. From The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
(John Steinbeck).
5. ?My Back Pages,? from The Most Wonderful
Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading (Greg
Sarris).
6. ?Seis,? from Bless Me, Ultima (Rudolfo A.
Anaya).
7. ?Discovering Books,? from Black Boy: A Record of
Childhood and Youth (Richard Wright).
8. ?The Gift of Reading,? from Better Than
Life (Daniel Pennac).
9. ?Coming into Language,? from Doing Time:
Twenty-Five Years of Prison Writing (Jimmy Santiago Baca).
10. ?Silence,? from Woman Warrior (Maxine
Hong Kingston).
11. ?Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood,? from
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez
(Richard Rodriguez).
12. ?Reading Has Always Been My Home,? from How
Reading Changed My Life (Anna Quindlen).
13. ?Brownsville Schooldays,? from A Walker in
the City (Alfred Kazin).
Part II: Literacy and Power.
Selections show how reading and writing open doors in our
lives.
14. ?Gary Lee,? from Speaking of Reading
(Gary Lee).
15. ?Two Ways to Be a Warrior,? from Luis
Rosriguez: Writer, Community Leader, Political Activist
(Michael Schwartz).
16. ?The Poets in the Kitchen,? from Reena and
Other Stories (Paule Marshall).
17. ?Libraries and the Attack on Illiteracy?
(Timothy S. Healy).
18. ?Learning to Read,? from The Autobiography of
Malcolm X (Malcolm X, Alex Haley).
19. ?In Conversation with Ernest J. Gaines?
(Adrianne Bee).
20. ?Learning to Read? (Frances E.W. Harper).
21. ?Precious Words? (Emily Dickinson).
22. ?Learning to Read and Write,? from Frederick
Douglass: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American
Slave (Fredrick Douglass).
23. ?India?s Literacy Miracle?.
24. ?Interrogation,? from Son of the
Revolution (Liang Heng, Judith Shapiro).
25. ?Reign of the Reader? (M. Freeman).
Part III: How We Read.
Selections describe the different ways our minds work as we try
to understand what we read.
26. ?Gerald Eisman,? from Speaking of Reading
(Gerald Eisman).
27. ?The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently,?
from New and Selected Poems (Thomas Lux).
28. ?The Birth of an Alchemist,? from Better Than
Life (Daniel Pennac).
29. ?Watch TV—In Your Head!? (Jennifer
Liu).
30. ?Tuning,? from The Winter Room (Gary
Paulsen).
31. ?Superman and Me,? from The Most Wonderful
Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading (Sherman
Alexie).
32. ?How to Mark a Book,? from The Mercury
Reader (Mortimer Adler).
33. ?Learning to Read,? from A History of
Reading (Alberto Manguel).
34. ?Three Wise Guys: Un Cuento de Navidad/A Christmas
Story? (Sandra Cisneros).
35. ?The New Case for Latin? (Mike Eskenazi).
36. ?No Words,? from Wild Country: Outdoor Poems
for Young People (David Harrison).
37. ?Teaching People to Hate Literature? (Matthew
S.).
38. ?Team Xerox? (Chris Taylor).
39. ?Private Reading,? from A History of
Reading (Alberto Manguel).
Part IV: Breaking Codes.
Selections reflect our need to navigate unfamiliar types of
texts.
40. ?Susan Schulter,? from Speaking of
Reading (Susan Schulter).
41. ?Important: Read This First? (Frank Cammuso,
Hart Seely).
42. ?The Secret Language of Custom? (Evelyn H.).
43. ?Language Heads Down the Rabbit Hole? (John
Schwartz).
44. ?Cinematic Gramnmar,? from Reading the
Movies: Twelve Great Films on Video and How to Teach Them
(William V. Costanzo).
45. ?Hip-Hop Becoming a Worldwide Language for Youth
Resistance?.
46. ?Double-Talk? (Rick Bass).
47. ?Technicality,? from Science and Language
Links: Classroom Implications (Beverly Derewianka).
48. ?Comic Books,? from A Book of Puzzlements:
Play and Invention with Language (Herbert Kohl).
Further Reading.
About the Editors.
About the Sponsor.
Source and Permissions.