Reply to comment

I remember being literally enchanted by the world that J.K Rowling described in her books. My mom and I loved Harry Potter and I remember feeling amazed that she loved it too since she was a grown up. As I grew up, so did Harry, Ron and Hermione. I listened to my mom read the stories and felt that I was a part of the wizarding world too. Not only did I read the books, but I saw every movie as it premiered in the theater and waited in line at midnight for the books to come out in the store. Big books no longer scared me and I wasn't nervous to read anything. 

I wonder who else has this experience with a book or group of books when they were young? Is there a way we can engage students who do not like to read with certain books? What is the value of “out of class books” rather than the classics we are told we must read in school?