Review: More Rip-Roaring Reads for Reluctant Teen Readers

Linda D. Labbo
Reviews Section Editor
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA

For a list of postings related to this review, click here.

More Rip-Roaring Reads for Reluctant Teens. Written by Bette D. Ammon and Gale W. Sherman. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998. ISBN 1-56308-571-2. 210 pages.

Bette D. Ammon, director of Missoula Public Library in Missoula, Montana, and Gale W. Sherman, early childhood librarian at Marshall Public Library in Pocatello, Idaho, USA, have combined their talents to provide educators, librarians, media specialists, and parents with a wonderful resource. This book, a follow-up to their 1993 Rip-Roaring Reads for Reluctant Teen Readers, identifies and describes 40 selections that students in grades 5 to 12 are sure to find appealing. Books reviewed include contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, mystery, nonfiction, and stories of adventure, humor, romance, and the supernatural. A wide range of themes -- friendship, school and family life, cultural heritage, music, boy-girl relationships, gossip, personal growth, challenges, illness, superstition, grief, unemployment, pregnancy, sports, and more -- are covered in the titles selected.

The book opens with the following words:

For many teenagers, “reading is like swimming through molasses,” and most parents, teachers, and librarians are eager and willing to transform this experience. In Mel Glenn's poem, high school student P.J. Compson represents scores of reluctant readers -- those who can read but choose not to for a variety of reasons. These aliterate individuals pose a particular challenge for educators who know that passing on the reading “bug” is critically important. Books have to be really special to capture a reluctant reader's attention.

The authors go on to remind us that many children who experience difficulties when learning to read in elementary school give up reading for pleasure or information by the time they enter middle school. “By selecting forty contemporary, spellbinding books written by forty outstanding authors,” Ammon and Sherman explain, “we hope to make the matching process between student and book easier and more successful.” Though not all the books recommended will appeal to every reader and successful matches of kids and books may not always occur, the range and number of titles included makes it likely that adults will find a rich variety of possibilities.

More Rip-Roaring Reads for Reluctant Teen Readers is divided into two sections: the first describing books for middle school students, and the second section aimed at the high school level. The user-friendly design provides easy access to information about the 40 books described. Each entry includes bibliographic information for the particular title, its genre, themes, reading level, and interest level, sources for other published reviews of the book, author information, a brief plot summary, suggestions regarding how to introduce the book, ideas for book talks and extension activities, and a reproducible bookmark. The authors also provide helpful organizational features such as indexes for author and title and for genres, themes, and activities.

Formal criteria were used to determine which books would be included. Recent publication, short length (150 - 175 pages), appealing format with an eye-catching cover, a high-interest theme, appropriate reading level, notable authors, and excellent writing were all taken into account. The authors explain that readability and interest levels were established in various ways, including use of the Fry readability scale and consideration of the book's content, style, and potential interest value. The succinct plot summaries always mention the ages of main characters because the authors believe that teens enjoy reading books about protagonists of their own age.

Hints are given for ways to introduce or share the books with individual students or groups. Ideas for book talks, literature extension, and alternative book report activities are also provided, along with some interesting suggestions for using the Internet to support book-related reading projects. The reproducible bookmarks provided for each title list other books that deal with similar themes. These can be distributed to students for use as they read and to provide a source of ideas for further reading.

Specific examples of the sort of information provided for each recommended title will give an indication of the value of this professional resource.

A Middle School Example

In the description of Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird by Vivian Vande Velde, Ammon and Sherman first provide full bibliographic information (including ISBN and page count). They indicate that the book may be viewed as folklore, fantasy, humor, or a collection of short stories. The suggested reading level is 6th grade, while the interest level is listed as 4th to 12th grade. In the author information section, readers learn that Velde purposely made some of her story characters seem unhappy or awkward because she believes young readers identify with these feelings. The plot description notes that the fairy tales included in the book are intentionally twisted and fractured to bring out incongruities and humor. When introducing the book to potential readers, Ammon and Sherman suggest that it might be useful to let them know that the stories it includes vary from a half page to 26 pages in length. In a section that offers ideas for a book talk, Velde's own from her introduction to “Beauty and the Beast” are included:

Once upon a time, in a land where even parents had magic, a mother got so upset with her son's bad temper, sloppy clothes, messy room, and disgusting table manners that she said: “If you're going to act like a beast, you might as well look like one, too.”

In a literature extensions section there are ideas for creative story responses such as Readers Theatre, which includes the URL for a website on the topic that offers guidelines for staging, scripting, and even performing. (Despite More Rip-Roaring Reads relatively recent publication, the URL the authors provide -- http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/ROS.html -- is already out of date. Those interested in visiting the site should go to its new location at http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/Tips.html .) The reproducible bookmark includes lists of books under headings such as Short and Sassy Twisted Tales, Picture Books, Fairy Tales: The Long Version, and Tales of a Glass Slipper.

A High School Example

The description of Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff also opens with full bibliographic information. The authors indicate that the book may be viewed as contemporary realistic fiction or as poetry. The suggested reading level is 6th grade, with an interest level of 7th to 12th grade. The author information section highlights Wolff's memories of being a young mother and a high school English teacher. The plot summary focuses on the trials of Jolly, a 17-year-old mother who hires a 14-year old-student, LaVaughn, to help her with her two young children. LaVaughn, who wants to go to college one day, influences the young mother to gain control of her life and to make better decisions about her family's future. When introducing the book to potential readers, Ammon and Sherman recommend that it be noted that the book is written in blank verse and with ungrammatical sentences that mirror the tone of a teenager's voice. The book talk section includes the following excerpt:

I'm standing in their smelly apartment
looking over the way things are going to be,
me with these two small ones that I can already tell
are leaking liquids everywhere.
Jolly turns out to be 17. I could still say No
just as quick as Jeremy did about my name.
Then this Jolly she says, “I can't do it alone no longer,
see, I'll get fired, it's a good job,
I work for the factory, you work for me.”

The literature extensions section suggests an idea for a health or social studies activity:

A group of readers of Make Lemonade can set up a babysitting clinic. By conducting research and engaging in interviews with parents or other babysitters, inviting healthcare workers to demonstrate and discuss childcare, students may outline procedures, understand babysitter responsibilities, share babysitting tips, and post relevant safety information. Once students have helped design and gone through such a clinic, they may also find ways to advertise their newly found areas of expertise to teenage mothers or others who need the service of babysitters.

Two reproducible bookmarks list suggestions for further reading under the headings “Teen Parents: Fiction” and “Read Aloud to Teens? Yes, with These Great Books!”

If you enjoyed this review, you might also be interested in the following postings in Reading Online:

• Books for Reluctant Readers, a review column by three middle school students
• Focus on Young Adult Literature, a web watch by Sam D. Gill and Deborah L. Gill
• The Benefits and Challenges of a Student-Designed School Website, by Maya B. Eagleton

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