Mrs. Di Chiara

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"The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of 
looking at things - that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone 
else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it's as if a hand has come out, 
and taken yours." -The History Boys

Excerpt from The New York Times (November 25, 2007) 
"A Good Mystery: Why We Read" by  Motoko Rich

"The problem was underscored last week when the National Endowment for the Arts delivered the 
sobering news that Americans — particularly teenagers and young adults — are reading less for fun. 
At the same time, reading scores among those who read less are declining, and employers are 
proclaiming workers deficient in basic reading comprehension skills.

So that’s the bad news. But is all hope gone, or will people still be drawn to the literary landscape? 
And what is it, exactly, that turns someone into a book lover who keeps coming back for more?

There is no empirical answer. If there were, more books would sell as well as the “Harry Potter” 
series or “The Da Vinci Code.” The gestation of a true, committed reader is in some ways a magical 
process, shaped in part by external forces but also by a spark within the imagination. Having parents 
who read a lot helps, but is no guarantee. Devoted teachers and librarians can also be influential. 
But despite the proliferation of book groups and literary blogs, reading is ultimately a private act. 
“Why people read what they read is a great unknown and personal thing,” said Sara Nelson, editor in 
chief of the trade magazine Publishers Weekly.

...“The Uncommon Reader” posits the theory that the right book at the right time can ignite a 
lifelong habit. (For the fictional queen, it’s Nancy Mitford’s “Pursuit of Love.”) This is a romantic ideal 
that persists among many a bibliophile...

But what makes that one book a trigger for continuous reading? For some, it’s the discovery that a 
book’s character is like you, or thinks and feels like you. In accepting the National Book Award for 
young people’s literature for “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” earlier this month, 
Sherman Alexie thanked Ezra Jack Keats, author of “The Snowy Day,” a classic picture book. “It was 
the first time I looked at a book and saw a brown, black, beige character — a character who 
resembled me physically and resembled me spiritually, in all his gorgeous loneliness and splendid 
isolation,” Mr. Alexie, a Spokane Indian who grew up on a reservation, told the audience.

In an interview, Mr. Alexie said “The Snowy Day” transformed him from someone who read regularly 
into a true bookhound. “I really think it’s the age at which you find that book that you really identify 
with that determines the rest of your reading life,” Mr. Alexie said. “The younger you are when you 
do that, the more likely you’re going to be a serious reader. It really is about finding yourself in a 
book.”

Of course that doesn’t account for reading for information, enlightenment or practical advice. And 
for others, it’s not so much identification as the embrace of the Other that draws them into reading. 
“It’s that excitement of trying to discover that unknown world,” said Azar Nafisi, the author of 
“Reading Lolita in Tehran,” the best-selling memoir about a book group she led in Iran.

Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/weekinreview/25rich.html?
_r=1&pagewanted=print

From Mrs. DiChiara: What was the right book at the right time that made me into a lifelong reader?
Before I started kindergarten my mother took me to the children's section of the library.  There I 
discovered a small book with beautiful illustrations by Beatrix Potter called The Tales of Peter Rabbit. 
From that moment on, I knew I wanted to figure out those mysterious symbols called letters so that I 
could know more of Peter's story.  A friend of mine didn't become a reader until the 10th grade when 
he read The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Finally, a teacher I know, became inspired to be a 
reader with the true story Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never 
Had by Brad Cohen. What was the right book at the right time for you? If you don't have one yet, let 
this summer be the one that does it for you! Select a book that you will read for fun!

The summer reading assignment is due on the return to school.  Students will need the book in class 
in order to complete the literary letter assignment.

Please go to the ELA web site for details at
http://wappingersela.com/SummerReading2009.html

Need a book to read? Try the following websites or contact me at 
diane.dichiara@wappingersschools.org

http://www.teenreads.com/features/ultimate-reading-list.asp
Interested in trying a graphic novel?
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/09top10.cfm
YALSA
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/09topten.cfm

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Mrs. Di Chiara

Summer Reading Assignment