Drawing on her long experience as a school librarian, the author uses this middle school library programming book to help you promote free voluntary reading through innovative workshops, staff training, collection development, and collaborative curricular planning. Her goal: to revive the enthusiasm for reading that is often lost by the middle school years. Her recommendation: creative library literacy programming designed to pique flagging interest in reading for pleasure. Chapters focus on how to use the school's calendar and curriculum to get the time needed for the focused program as well as ways to manipulate budgets, get grants and other monies to build a strong literature-oriented program and collection. One chapter focuses entirely on how to get faculty to become readers of YA and children's literature in order to become models for their students. Other programs discussed are author visits, book fairs, whole school reading programs, journaling for readers and many more. Also included is an annotated bibliography of great reads. Grades 4-12.

Discover practical strategies to make reading aloud a meaningful family ritual. The stories we read--and the conversations we have about them--help shape family traditions, create lifelong memories, and become part of our legacy. Reading aloud not only has the power to change a family--it has the power to change the world. But we all know that connecting deeply with our families can be difficult in our busy, technology-driven society. Reading aloud is one of the best ways to be fully present with our children, even after they can read themselves, but it isn't always easy to do. Discover how to: Prepare your kids for academic success through reading to them Develop empathy and compassion in your kids through books Find time to read aloud in the midst of school, sports, and dinner dishes Choose books across a variety of sibling interests and ages Make reading aloud the best part of your family's day The Read-Aloud Family also offers age-appropriate book lists from infancy through adolescence. From a toddler's wonder to a teenager's resistance, you will find the inspiration you need to start a read-aloud movement in your own home.

#1 New York Times Bestseller The groundbreaking work that poses one of the most provocative questions of a generation: what is happening to the selves of adolescent girls? As a therapist, Mary Pipher was becoming frustrated with the growing problems among adolescent girls. Why were so many of them turning to therapy in the first place? Why had these lovely and promising human beings fallen prey to depression, eating disorders, suicide attempts, and crushingly low self-esteem? The answer hit a nerve with Pipher, with parents, and with the girls themselves. Crashing and burning in a “developmental Bermuda Triangle,” they were coming of age in a media-saturated culture preoccupied with unrealistic ideals of beauty and images of dehumanized sex, a culture rife with addictions and sexually transmitted diseases. They were losing their resiliency and optimism in a “girl-poisoning” culture that propagated values at odds with those necessary to survive. Told in the brave, fearless, and honest voices of the girls themselves who are emerging from the chaos of adolescence, Reviving Ophelia is a call to arms, offering important tactics, empathy, and strength, and urging a change where young hearts can flourish again, and rediscover and reengage their sense of self.

From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are — and deciding who you want to be. When Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana’s life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of a small Georgia town — including a surly motel owner, a walrus-like minister, and a mysterious boy with a crow on his shoulder — she starts to worry that she is destined only for good-byes. (Which could be due to the curse on Louisiana's and Granny’s heads. But that is a story for another time.) Called “one of DiCamillo’s most singular and arresting creations” by The New York Times Book Review, the heartbreakingly irresistible Louisiana Elefante was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale — and now, with humor and tenderness, Kate DiCamillo returns to tell her story.

Knowledge is Power! A knowledgeable person cannot be easily deceived. Someone who doesn't read wallows in ignorance and is like a time bomb waiting to explode. Someone once said, "Your position in five years from now will be determined by two things: first, the books you read; and second, the friends you keep." There are three categories of people in life where reading is concerned: Those who don't read, those who buy books but don't read it, and those who buy and read the book. If I may ask: to which category do you belong? A man who can read but chooses not to read, is not better than a man who cannot read. The world belongs to those who "know".In this book, you will learn: -How to spark a renewed passion for reading-The importance of reading-The dangers of not reading-How to become a solution provider by knowledge-How to set up a personal development library-How to become an "A" Student at school-How to become a better leader in both the private and public sectors.-How to become an excellent teacher in teaching your students-How to become a star employee at work through knowledge acquisition-How to become a better parent in aiding your child's education-Ways to revive the reading culture in our society "The book is a treasure. In it, the good, the challenging and the lessons of the times wait for the person with the discipline to explore its bowels. Elvis Ukpaka scopes and elucidates on the truism of leaders as readers who found the light between the pages."- Prof. Pat UtomiChairman, Centre for Values in Leadership "The Book "Readers are Leaders" is a compendium of information on the culture of reading. In the book, Dr. Elvis Ukpaka challenges leaders to read as a means of acquiring knowledge to be able to address the issues that face them and those they lead."- Dr. Cosmas Maduka CON Founder/Chairman, Coscharis Group"A first-grade keepsake in improving leadership qualities."- Dr. Larry IzamojeChairman/CEO, Brila FM RadioAbout the Author - Dr. Elvis UkpakaDr. Elvis Ukpaka is a Leadership Expert. As a renowned Leadership Consultant, Trainer, Speaker, and Coach, Elvis has helped transform the leadership direction for many corporate organizations, governmental bodies, religious bodies, schools, and individuals through his leadership empowerment programs. Elvis holds a B.Com (Hons.) Marketing from Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa; Master's degree in Organizational Leadership from Regent University, Virginia Beach, USA and Doctorate degree in Strategic Leadership, from Regent University in Virginia Beach, USA. Elvis is the Lead Consultant at Visiondrivers Management Consulting - a leadership consulting firm based in Lagos.

A passionate plea to make the Bible occupy the central place of a Christians life. It not only explores the current malady of not taking the Bible seriously, but it goes deeper to uncover its reasons. Table of Contents Introduction 1. A Revival of Learning the Word: Confronting Distractions, Priorities, and the Pretext of Being Too Busy 2. A Revival of Valuing the Word: Confronting Haziness, Self-Sufficiency, and the Perception That the Bible Isnt Enough 3. A Revival of Understanding the Word: Confronting Superficiality, Superiority, and the Assumption That It Should Come Easily 4. A Revival of Applying the Word: Confronting Special Interests, Therapeutism, and a Lack of Dependence on the Spirit 5. A Revival of Obeying the Word: Confronting Sentimentality, Avoidance, and the Opinion That I Have the Right to Decide 6. A Revival of Speaking the Word: Confronting Fear, Excuses, and the Idea That Its the Responsibility of the Clergy Appendix A: The Easiest Way to Memorize the Bible Appendix B: A Method for Attaining Bible Fluency

The Last Word investigates the debased art of eulogy. Through insightful, surprisingly playful readings of famous eulogies (from a scene in Love Actually to Jacques Derrida’s heart-rending essays on the deaths of his peers), Cooper argues against the socially sanctioned desire to avoid thinking about death that results in clichéd memorials, honoring neither the living nor the dead.