My thoughts...

I don't really know what I was expecting when I read this book...perhaps a text that was full of secrets that would make me a genius when it came to students that quit. I don't think that book exists, though. Don't get me wrong--I enjoyed the book and I got a lot out of it but ultimately it is just more puzzle pieces that will hopefully be the right fit.

I enjoyed that they included the boys that their studies were based on, but I wished that they would have talked even more explicitly about what things helped each student on a case by case basis. That way, it could be used as a reference. I also wished that the book had been organized a little differently.

Overall, though, I do think that there are a lot of great ideas for all students. I realize that the authors' primary concern was with boys but I think that the conclusions that they reached and the ideas that they shared are worthwhile to all students.

I have also been taking a class about YA literature and together with this book I am seeing the importance of "hooking" students with reading. I have always tried but I am going to attempt some kind of out of class reading this year. I have a list of books that I want to make into a poster of titles that I hope my students will utilize. I want to create a "book club" so to speak with each of my classes this coming year. It happened quite by accident last year in my photography class. I required that my Photo II students read a book that dealt with some aspect of social justice before they completed their Photo Essays. They all passed around books for weeks and their Photo Essays were A-MAZ-ING. I tried to post one to the blog, but it just will not load. The majority of the Photo Essays were based on the book/s that they chose to read. Hey--I was even doing what a few of the things that the book taught me to do with this project. Yay!