Professional Book Reviews: The Rights of Readers in Our Schools

• Published in: Language arts 2011, Vol.88 (3), p.238-243
• Main Authors: Fabelo, Dora M., Stella, Krish, Barreto-Romero, Natascha, Valdez-Gainer, Nancy
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0360-9170; 1943-2402
• DOI: 10.58680/la201113418

Dora M. Fabelo, Krish Stella, Natascha Barreto-Romero, Nancy Valdez-GainerFour professionals who represent different capacities in one urban elementary school—principal, reading specialist, librarian, and classroom teacher—each select one book to review relating to the theme of “rights of readers.” The first book reviewed, A Declaration of Reader’s Rights: Renewing Our Commitment to Students , written by Bass, Dasinger, Elish-Piper, Matthews, and Risko, provides an overview of what is meant by “rights of readers” and what can be done in schools to address this issue. Next, Burn This Book: PEN Writers Speak Out on the Power of the Word , edited by Toni Morrison, contains diverse chapters relating how censorship infringes on the rights of readers. DIY Media: Creating, Sharing, and Learning with New Technologies, edited by Knobel and Lankshear, examines do-it-yourself media as social literacy practice, thus calling for the rights of readers to engage with expanded definitions of what should count as text. Finally, Teaching for Joy and Justice: Re-Imagining the Language Arts Classroom , written by Linda Christensen, highlights the possibilities that arise when students are given the right to engage with reading and writing that reflects their diverse lives, cultures, and languages, affording opportunities to read and write social justice texts.