Free Reading Is No Solution

I read with dismay Stephen Krashen’s article “Free Reading” (September 2006, pp. 42–45). I don’t believe that any of us educators would disagree that children become better readers by reading. A period of sustained silent reading (SSR) during the course of the school day can be very beneficial. The trick is to match appropriate text to each reader so success is experienced and reading skills can be strengthened.

While it is true that the National Reading Panel (NRP) couldn’t support the use of sustained silent reading to improve reading fluency through empirical data, it didn’t state that there aren’t any benefits. The NRP did recommend that teachers carefully match text to reader to ensure that students can actually read the words on the page during an SSR time period. The panel also recommended that reading practice should be actively monitored and guided by the teacher.

Currently there are millions of students in this country who do not know how to read, meaning that they don’t know how to decipher the written code of the language. If the solution were as easy as providing our students with more access to books or “free reading,” we wouldn’t be experiencing our current nationwide reading crisis.—Wendy North, Haskins Laboratories reading specialist, Guilford, CT

The review of David Levithan’s most recent work of homosexual indoctrination, Wide Awake (Knopf, 2006; September, p. 210), did serve the most basic purpose of a book review. After reading it, I realized that no librarian in their right mind should order such a blatant piece of anti-Christian propaganda for any library, public or private. Thanks are in order to the reviewer for making this clear.—James Nelson, librarian
Heights School, Potomac, MD

Domestic Violence in 'Diva’

I wanted to thank Tina Zubak for her review of my book, Diva (HarperTempest, 2006; November, p. 135). However, there was one sentence that I am concerned might be misleading. In the review, Ms. Zubak states that Caitlin “patches things up with her ex, who has reformed through counseling.”

While this is technically an accurate statement, I worry that readers, particularly those who have read Breathing Underwater (HarperCollins, 2001), might incorrectly assume that this means that Caitlin reunites with Nick in the end. This is not the case. Caitlin makes her peace with Nick and they have some closure. As an author, I feel a strong sense of responsibility toward the teenagers who read my books. Having worked with domestic-violence victims, both as an attorney and as a volunteer, I believe that a victim returning to her abuser is never a good idea, something which I’ve explained to numerous teens who have written to me, asking for a sequel in which Nick and Caitlin reunite. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify this point and, once again, thank Ms. Zubak for her review.—Alex Flinn, author, Palmetto Bay, FL

In response to your review of our Egyptian Activity Book and Roman Activity Book (both Barron’s, 2006; November, p. 126), we wished to make a few comments. They were not meant to be stand-alone books, but craft books to complement other texts. With 10 projects and a map in a 24-page book, cramming in more “cultural” information would be difficult. Also, there are no measurement mistakes in our books. We can only assume that the American publisher made a mistake converting centimetres to inches. They never sent us copies of the American versions of the books, so we don’t know what they have changed. Similarly, the reference to a joke about stoned dates is news to us. The Roman book doesn’t have a date recipe—not many date palms in Italy! We are now quite worried.

The idea behind the Roman fort is that you can make your own Hadrian’s wall. It stretched for over 75 miles across the North of England. Schoolchildren over here have made large topographical models of the wall, using the “underwhelming” templates in the book. The template for the scale model of the Great Pyramid is also small—it wouldn’t fit on the page otherwise—but following very simple instructions, it is possible to make a model big enough to get inside. Children here have done this and made a life-size mummy. Readers can make up their own minds by visiting our Web site, www.babygoz.co.uk, where sample projects can be downloaded from all six books in the series.—Steve and Sue Weatherill, authors, Gedney Dyke, Spalding, Lincs UK

Correction: The Fall 2006 “Up Front” section of Curriculum Connections incorrectly indicated the amounts that will be awarded to winners of the “We Beat the Street” Penguin Young Readers Group scholarship contest and the Web site for official rules. The grand-prize winner will receive $1,500 toward the college/university or vocational school of his or her choice, and two first-place winners will each receive a $500 scholarship. To enter, students must submit an essay of 1,000 to 1,500 words describing their experiences in overcoming adversity to reach their goals. For complete rules, visit us.penguingroup.com/static/html/enter/streetsweeps.html.