I Hear America Reading: Why We Read - What We Read

By Jim Burke

Book Overview

"In an era of decreasing commitment to literacy . . . it is no surprise that most students, too, are bypassing books." So wrote English teacher Jim Burke in a seminal letter to the San Francisco Chronicle -seminal because of the astounding response that ensued when he invited readers to "write to my high school students about your experiences with books, perhaps telling them what role books and literature have played in your life." More than one thousand pages of letters came pouring in. The best are collected in this funny, poignant, and inspiring book. As poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote, "Our lives are not made up of atoms. They are made of stories," and here we find plenty of them-stories from librarians and celebrities, nuns and felons, cattle ranchers and artists, second graders and septuagenarians. Through their experiences, we become enveloped in a rich tapestry of life. And isn't that the miracle of reading itself, its ability to inspire us across the full spectrum of humanity? Each letter is preceded by an insightful quote from a famous person musing on the power of books. The appendixes feature extensive lists of recommended books for all types of readers, including lists broken into categories like "Ten Books We Should All Read Before Childhood Ends" and "Ten Books a Teenage Boy Would Want to Read."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325001340
• ISBN13: 9780325001340
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 5 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 12

Customer Reviews

San Francisco Chronicle review

Praising the Power of Books REVIEWED BY Barbara Hass Sunday, January 30, 2000 In this digital age, a book about the joys of reading sounds quaint, even anachronistic. But sheer pleasure is timeless, and ``I Hear America Reading'' is a celebration of books and the profound effect they have on our lives. It began as a simple letter to The Chronicle. Burlingame High School teacher Jim Burke was looking for ways to inspire the students in his English class. He invited people to describe their own reading experiences, and hundreds of responses poured in from the Bay Area and around the world. Full of humor and pathos -- some even touched by tragedy -- these letters tell of worlds opening up, lives resurrected and new paths chosen. The writers are teachers and explorers, immigrants and students, convicts and counselors. What they have in common is faith in the power of books, and tremendous gratitude for the gift of reading. One writer says books led her family to a life of multiple adventures. ``Writings of John Muir and Colin Fletcher sent us into the Sierra for a 40-day, 240-mile backpacking trip,'' she explains. ``National Geographic, Melville, Stevenson, Conrad, Bligh and Cook infected us with an itch to sail the world. Since we couldn't afford to buy a boat, we had to read plans and construction manuals so we could build one. Anduril, the 40-foot trimaran we built, has taken us on two circumnavigations.'' Other writers are new to this country, grappling with English as a second language but eloquent in their passion for reading. ``My life is not so hard like when I got to the USA,'' writes a student. ``Now the books are my friends, company, and they make me feel better when I'm sad or when I'm alone. This is how I feel about a book.'' Some people mention a volume or two that had a special impact on their lives, but one architect can't contain them all. After enthusing over everything from ``Little Women'' to ``A Gift From the Sea,'' she writes: ``I feel a bit like someone making an acceptance speech at the Oscars. I don't want to forget to thank someone important!'' She finally does stop herself and signs off, but her pure joy in reading pops up again in a delightful postscript: ``I just can't leave out Willa Cather's `Death Comes for the Archbishop,' a book I just read recently and loved!'' The letters are interspersed with beautiful excerpts from professional writers sharing their personal reading experiences. ``How astonishing the day individual letters lined up to become messages!'' writes poet-essayist Naomi Shihab Nye. ``Billboards unleashed their mysteries high above us. Signs on barbershops welcomed us to step inside. Lists at the laundromat instructed us about dyeing and lint. When I read the words `cream puff' for myself on the menu at the tea room where my grandma had taken me for a grown-up ladies lunch, tears rose in my eyes! The code was now mine!'' A wonderful part of ``I Hear America Read

A must read

In our rush to teach children how to read, are we remembering to teach them to want to read? I Hear America Reading: Why We Read; What We Read by Jim Burke, addresses this important question about the value and power of reading for the individual and society. Some time ago, Burke who is a high school English teacher in California wrote a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle inviting the readers of that newspaper to write to his students about their experiences with books and reading . He was delighted when he returned to school the following week to he discover the first batch of what would eventually total four hundred letters. Those letters made a difference for his students who were inspired that so many people would take the time to write to them about the benefits of reading. Now fifty of the letters have been published in I Hear America Reading. Read the letters for personal inspiration about why reading makes such a difference in so many lives. Share the letters with your students by reading them aloud. Students will be encouraged to want to read since most of the letters tell a story of how reading and books shaped lives. This is a thoughtfully crafted book, special care has been taken to select letters that feature the writer's strong voice. In addition, inspirational quotations from famous people about the power of reading follow each letter. The book ends with an appendix that is a "List of Lists, booklists that list books of every type to tantalize the reader.