You Gotta Be the Book: Teaching Engaged and Reflective Reading with Adolescents

Over a decade ago, Jeffrey Wilhelm’s groundbreaking book showed educators how to think of reading as a personally meaningful, pleasurable, and productive pursuit. In the 13 years since its publication, the author has experimented with and further developed all of the techniques he first explored in “You Gotta BE the Book,” including visual techniques, drama and action strategies, think-aloud protocols, and symbolic story representation/reading manipulatives. In this expanded edition, Wilhelm adds a new commentary to each chapter in which he reflects on the research and insights he introduced in his now-classic text.

Through textured case studies of engaged and reluctant readers, the Second Edition of “You Gotta BE the Book” once again addresses enduring issues, such as:

• What do highly engaged adolescent readers DO as they read?
• What is it about traditional schooling and reading instruction that deters engaged reading and serves to disenfranchise young readers?
• What types of interventions can be used in the classroom to help all students, especially reluctant ones, become successful readers?

Praise for First Edition:

“ ‘You Gotta BE the Book’ will grab your attention and your heart in the first few pages.” ―English Education (of first edition)

“A text that deserves to be read, needs to be heard, and ultimately belongs on the desks―within arm’s reach―of teachers, administrators, students, and professors,” ―Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (of first editon)

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm is an internationally known teacher, author, presenter, National Writing Project director, and distinguished professor of English Education at Boise State University. He is the coauthor of Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom: Being the Book and Being the Change and The Activist Learner: Inquiry, Literacy, and Service to Make Learning Matter.