I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf for some time now. The red’s been calling to me. The scrawl on the front cover, meant to look like some rotten student wrote on my book, says:  “Baby the first thing I need to know from you is do you believe I killed my father?”

Today I while searching for book trailers to show my kids on Friday, I came across this Audiobook excerpt. Take the time to listen. You’ll feel the chill, too, and you’ll think VOICE. Oh, my, gosh, what a great way to get my students to think about voice.

I am forever searching for books that will engage my reluctant readers, especially my boys. Maybe part of the problem with getting them to give a book a try is because they cannot hear the narrator’s voice. I doubt–for those of us who are readers–we think about that much, but imagine you struggle with fluency. Your reading is slow and laborious, so the meaning gets muddied. Honestly, I haven’t thought about that much. I need to do a better job at helping my struggling kiddos understand that the voice in the book can be as real as someone reading in their ear.

So, it’s Monday, and I want to read this book before I get it into a student’s hand. I’m reading:  UPSTATE by Kalisha Buckhanon. Do you know of other titles that might appeal to my reluctant boy readers?

Tagged: books, boys, reluctant readers, voice