Learning from the Boys

The Boy Crisis is cited often in educational and news reports due to the consistent readingachievement gap for boys and the statistics paint a dismal picture of boys in school. Politicians andresearchers often focus on boys' low scores on reading achievement tests and compare these scoresto the girls' scores with little consideration for the actual reading lives of boys. As a resultadolescent boys' vernacular reading is most often misunderstood.This book documents my journey as a mother of three boys and teacher of adolescents as I attemptto articulate both the in-school and out-of-school experiences of boys. The book describes myattempts at creating a more complete picture of the reading lives and experiences of adolescent boysby describing three boys and their reading experiences in their natural contexts. It provides a rich description revealing disconnectsbetween school literacy practices and boys' vernacular literacy practices.In this book parents administrators and teachers will find discover the complexity of boys as readers challenging educators to pursueeffective practice and curricular decisions which go beyond the quick fixes for the boy problem so often seen in response to low testscores. This book provides parents administrators and teachers with an in-depth description of three boy readers. What emerges is adescription of the complexity of boys as readers challenging educators to pursue effective practice and curricular decisions which gobeyond the quick fixes for the boy problem so often seen in response to low test scores.Teachers interested in mentoring boy readers will find this book helpful. This book can alsobe used with pre-service and in-service teachers in undergraduate and graduate coursesand in professional development.