The Gift of Books

I've been thinking a lot about books and children lately -how could I avoid it? I am trying to form some opinions about how to encourage children to become lifelong readers. Now I know there are many, many paper and books published on this topic. And I have read some of them. But I cannot "own" an idea unless I a) come up with it, or b) try it out for myself.
So, I've been reading some fun young adult books in my young adult literature class at UNM: Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and American Born Chinese, which is a graphic novella by Gene Luen Yang. I have been wanting to share these books with my classes, but we are waist-deep in poetry and it is hard to cram anything else in right now. I have a student aid though, who was in my class last semseter and only needed one semester of English. So I share my books with him. Sometimes I bring in Nation Geographics with cool articles, other times I lend him the short books I'm reading. It is such a joy to be able to share this with him, especially since I am learning, too. I let him read the beginning of American Born Chinese and he like dit so much that he went to the public library over the weekend, checked it out, and finished it before Monday. When I saw him in class, he was dissapointed I hadn't finished the book yet because he wanted to discuss it! Amazing!

In another class, there is a young man who is very interested in books and reading already. We were discussing some books and he was explaining why he disliked Steinback's East of Eden, which I am reading for the first time. I asked him what books he really liked and he wrote down two titles for me. I told him I'd do my best to look them up. Everyday since he has asked me if I've read the books yet. I have been so busy with classwork (and Steinback!) that I did not check out the novels. In class today (one week from when we had this discussion) he asked again about the books. I asked him if the school library might have them so I could check them out later during my prep. As I was eating lunch, he came marching in with a book, "This is your homework," he said triumphantly. "Read this by Tuesday. you have a long weekend to finish it!" I am tickled that a student of mine is so determined to share his reading material with me! I realize he is already a lifelong reader, but the social exchange is rewarding for both parties. So now I begin The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon on behalf of an eager 16-year-old...