The Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) Yearbook, Volume 34, includes papers presented at the annual conference, which have gone through a double peer review process. It also includes the Presidential Address and the keynote addresses given at the conference. For ALER's 55th annual meeting, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers met in Richmond, Virginia at the Richmond Omni Hotel. This year's conference theme was The Joy of Teaching Literacy, which we also used as the title for this year's Yearbook, Volume 34. Following the presidential address, "Can't Settle on a Title: Uncertainty in Literacy Learning and Literacy Teacher Education" (Mary Roe), two keynote addresses are presented: (1) When the Audacity of Hope Meets Urban Education Research (Given by Robert Cooter and Written by Susan Szabo); and (2) Literacy Trends and Issues: What's Hot--Past, Present, and Future? (Given by Jack Cassidy and Written by Susan Szabo). Two research award papers follow: (3) Mathematical Literacy: Reading Clinicians' Perceptions of Domain Relevance of Cognitive Comprehension Strategies (Taylor Clements) and (4) "Why do we Read?": A Case Study of Three African American Male Struggling Readers and How they View Reading in a Third Grade, Accelerated Reader Classroom (Robin Mara). Eight papers conclude the volume: (5) A Book Study: Improving Middle-School Teachers Literacy Instruction (Angela Falter Thomas); (6) A Professional Learning Community Implements Formative Assessment in Middle School Language Arts Classes (Roberta Linder); (7) Understanding and Addressing Challenges Faced by School-based Literacy Professionals: The Views of District Level Supervisors (Elizabeth G. Sturtevant and Kimberly M. Kopfman); (8) Transitioning Online: Moving a Graduate Reading Program Online while Continuing to Maintain Program Rigor and Meet Standards (Sara R. Helfrich and William E. Smith); (9) An Investigation of Changes in Preservice Teachers' Attitudes and Confidence Level in Teaching Reading during a Yearlong Student Teaching Program (Kyungsim Hong-Nam and Susan Szabo); (10) Students' Affective Engagement in Literacy Tasks: Observations of and Interviews with Sixth-Grade Students (Seth A. Parsons, Jacquelynn A. Malloy, Allison Ward Parsons, and Sarah Cohen Burrowbridge); (11) Transforming Literacy Instruction in Urban Settings: Combining Professional Development and Instructional Coaching to Improve Student Achievement (Maureen Spelman and David Bell); and (12) The Instruction and Assessment of Expository Text: A Content Analysis of Fifth-Grade Reading and Science State Adopted Teacher's Manuals (Alison A. Jones, Mary Beth Sampson, and Wayne M. Linek). Individual papers contain references. [For "Literacy Promises. The Thirty-Third Yearbook: A Doubled Peer Reviewed Publication of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers," see ED527009.]