Reading Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading

I thought the title of this book was clever, and a topic that my students would enjoy, so I decided to give it a try (even though I teach high school seniors and this book is clearly targeted to a middle school audience).  It was an enjoyable read, and short (which my students would appreciate!).  Most of my students would certainly relate to Charlie Joe’s animosity towards reading, but I am not sure they would be able to relate to much else.  Despite his opposition to reading, he is very intelligent and articulate.  He even admits that he is a pretty good writer and doesn’t mind doing it.  The only thing my students like less than reading is writing, so that might alienate them a bit.  I also worry that Charlie Joe’s white, upper-middle class family, friends, and school might turn my students off.  Charlie Joe’s dad is a lawyer; most of my students don’t really even have dads.  Charlie Joe hates reading because his dad gave him a bunch of books for his 6^th birthday; my students hate reading because they can’t do it very well.

Despite these differences, I still think I might consider reading at least some of this book aloud to my students.  The chapters are all very short, so it lends itself very well to read-alouds.  I was thinking of reading the section about when his hatred of reading began (the birthday presents).  I could use this as a writing prompt and ask my students to write about when they decided that they didn’t like to read and what prompted that decision.  Since they are so much older and wiser now (being seniors and all) maybe realizing how immature they were when they reached that conclusion might make them reconsider it.  One can hope, anyway…