Addressing the needs of English language learners, remedial readers, avid readers, gifted readers, dormant readers, reluctant readers, and readers in content areas, this book's goal is to help middle school teachers connect their students to reading. The book offers multiple lists of trade books that different types of middle school readers enjoy; describes computer programs for middle schoolers; tells how the Internet can provide reading motivation; offers methods for assessment; explains response theory; discusses short stories; explains the importance of reading aloud; walks teachers through CD ROMs, audio books, reference books, fiction and nonfiction trade books; and outlines what successful staff development ought to entail. Chapters in the book are (1) "Understanding Middle School Students" (Linda Robinson); (2) "Voices of Middle School Readers" (Hollis Lowery-Moore); (3) "Choosing Not to Read: Understanding Why Some Middle Schoolers Just Say No" (Kylene Beers); (4) "Call Me Ishmael: A Look at Gifted Middle School Readers" (Barbara Baskin); (5) "Reaching Struggling Readers" (Margaret Hill); (6) "Latino Students and Reading: Understanding These English Language Learners' Needs" (Yolanda Padron); (7) "Reader-Response Theory in the Middle School" (Robert Probst); (8) "Thematic Units and Readers' Workshop: How the Two Connect" (Mary Santerre); (9) "Promoting Literature Discussions" (Elizabeth A. Poe); (10) "Readers Take Responsibility: Literature Circles and the Growth of Critical Thinking" (Judith Scott and Jan Wells); (11) "Using Dialectical Journals to Build Beginning Literary Response" (Sandy L. Robertson); (12) "Strategies: What Connects Readers to Meaning" (Judy Wallis); (13) "Reading Aloud to Build Success in Reading" (Teri S. Lesesne); (14) "Fostering Independent, Critical Content Reading in the Middle Grades" (Karen M. Feathers); (15) Authentic Reading Assessment in the Middle School (Devon Brenner and P. David Pearson); (16) Castles to Colin Powell: The Truth about Nonfiction" (Betty Carter and Richard F. Abrahamson); (17) "Short Stories--Long Overdue" (Donald R. Gallo); (18) "Creating Lifetime Readers: A Novel Idea" (Barbara G. Samuels); (19) "It Ain't Only in Books Any More" (Ted Hipple and Elizabeth Goza); (20) "The Genie in the Computer" (Elizabeth Stephens); (21) "Honoring Teacher Voices through Professional Conversations" (Carol Pope and Karen Kutiper); and (22) "Selection Aids: Places to Go When There's More You Need to Know" (Patricia Potter Wilson). An approximately 500-item list of trade books cited is attached. (RS)