Marmaduke Multiply’s

I’ve lots to say about the flurry of ongoing excitement over Multiplication Facts, as they were, but as long as they continue to torment and elude many a young person (and older person, come to think of it), I shall continue to look for ways to make it a smoother ride.  The other day in [...]

Roscoe Riley Rules

The Roscoe Riley series has recently lit up one of the reluctant readers I know, so I figured I better include a quick mention, though I’m sure it’s probably already popular with most library-frequenters.  My young reading friend shared a passage that had us both chuckling, in which Roscoe describes his fractured femur as a [...]

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

When I work with new reading students the first book I use is The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. What makes this an excellent first book is that the story is astonishing – French tightrope walker Phillipe Petit, with the help of several friends, strings a cable between the two World Trade Center buildings [...]

Guys Write for Guys Read

This is a book worth trying with young male readers fall into either category (or both). It’s a collection of very short stories and essays (one to two pages) by male authors whose work has proven popular with male readers. Many of the stories are funny, many contain useful life lessons, and many contain the [...]