GETTING TEENS TO READ

Teens must read at least two hours per day if they are to build their reading skills. Schools should be part of this process but most often they aren't. Under these circumstances, taking up the slack at home becomes very important. You cannot force adolescents to read. You can only entice them. This means you must provide them with books they find interesting. Reading is like meditating: it works if one builds concentration slowly over time and if it's pleasurable. Here are some links to websites where you can find a range of interesting young adult (YA) fiction. If you and your teen find interesting books on any of these sites--or elsewhere--it would be great if both of you could read them and discuss what you like about them. A great way to build comprehension in older youth is to discuss the problems the main characters have and how they deal with these problems. Ask your teen if he/she would have handled the problem differently. Discussing books is also a great way of spending quality time together.

Teen books with an edge: http://www.thisispush.com

Highly recommended YA literature from the American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/bestbooksyoung....

Gay themed YA fiction from the author of the Rainbow Boys series. (Do buy his books; they’re wonderful.): http://www.alexsanchez.com/gay_teen_books.htm

Books with African American themes for children of all ages: http://www.blackbooksdirect.com/children.html

Multicultural literature recommended on the Alan Review (with suggested age ranges and a key to determine each book’s degree of difficuly): http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall95/Ericson.html

Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D. is the author of READ WELL, THINK WELL: BUILD YOUR CHILD'S READING, COMPREHENSION AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS