Aliteracy: An Alarming Anecdote

As December approaches, I prepare my heart for Christmas. But, I also prepare a post for the year's reading that I've accomplished. How many pages have I read? How many books, in what genre, by which author? How many challenges have I completed? What were my favorite ten books of 2009?  It's exciting for me to review the year and define it, in part, by the books that I have read.

I remember Madeleine L'Engle writing once that she was embarrassed by the amount of books she'd read in a year until she found out that the average college student read three. Three?! I wish I could remember her quote exactly, but the point remains that so many people have lost their love for reading. If they ever had one in the first place. Consider this guest post by author, and teacher, Alison Hart:

I am an author. My days are spent reading, researching, writing, and reading some more. It is an addictive pleasure—and, lucky me, my job. But I am also a teacher at a community college. I teach those students who did not pass college placement tests, so they need remedial work in reading and writing before taking college-level classes.  The population is interesting and varied: students with learning disabilities, GEDs, and nonacademic backgrounds as well as English language learners, older workers who want/need new careers and teens who slept through high school. 

I have taught at the college for ten years--thirty semesters, approximately ninety classes of students. Each semester I introduce myself as an author. I am not J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer, but I have published over thirty children’s books, and yet in all my years of teaching, I can count on one hand the number of students who have been curious about my life as an author or my books.

I tell this story to illustrate that I live and work in two totally different worlds: the world of teachers, librarians, authors, agents, publishers (all book lovers) and then the rest of the world. Aliteracy—when someone has the ability to read but has total disinterest in reading and books—is not only rampant in my classroom but across America. Consider the facts:    

            1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

            80% of US families did not buy a book last year.

            27% of adults in America did not read a single book in 2007 (USA Today)

These statistics face me in the classroom every day.  

When my historical suspense novel Gabriel’s Horses was nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Award, it was suggested that I quit teaching and spend my time promoting my books through school visits, conferences, blogging, and ‘getting out there.’ I am glad I listened to my gut because I need teaching. I need to be smacked in the face every day with the issues of literacy and aliteracy.  I know my books hook young readers with their action, suspense and history because I hear from fans. But I do not kid myself. My novels will never replace the importance of what I do in my classroom each semester: trying to convince disinterested students of the importance, the power, of reading and writing.

Some days I see a glimmer of hope.

For more information on aliteracy, read Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide. Warning: don’t read it before bed—you won’t be able to sleep.



Alison has sent me two of her books for give-aways. They are wonderful presents for horse lovers in particular. Please share your thoughts on teachers, on reading, or on overcoming a lack of interest in the published word. Is there something special we could do to rein in a desire to read? And, let me know if you're interested in winning one of the two titles below:

The year is 1864, and thirteen-year-old Gabriel is too young to join his father in the Fifth U.S. Colored Cavalry of The Union army. Instead, he finds a job as personal groom to Champion, the unruly horse that belongs to a white commander, Captain Waite. But when the cavalry receives orders to join white regiments in an attack on the Virginia saltworks, Gabriel is given a horse and a uniform and he eagerly accompanies the troops.

A soldier's life, however, is a lot harder than he imagined. Bad weather, rough riding, dwindling supplies, and blatant racism wear on his spirit. When his father and Captain Waite are not among the weary and wounded who return from a fierce fight, Gabriel mounts Champion and rides to the battlefield in search of them.

In this final book of the highly engrossing Racing to Freedom trilogy, author Alison Hart continues to explore the complex  relationships between black and white, slave and master, and North and South during the turbulent Civil War era. (for ages 8-12)

~Vermont, 1850~

Bell's Star is a brown Morgan colt with a white star and two white stockings. He was bred for hard work, yet he longs to run free with his human friend Katie on his back. But when Star helps rescue a runaway slave girl, his ideas about freedom may change forever. Here is Star's story...in his own words.

Alison's bio:

Alison Hart is a Virginia author of over thirty books for young readers. Upcoming books include the re-release of Shadow Horse an Edgar-nominated mystery from Random House along with a new title Whirlwind, its much anticipated sequel (May 2010.) Emma's River (Peachtree), a historical fiction chapter book about a plucky girl and her pony and their adventures on the Missouri River, is coming out in April 2010. Her latest early chapter book Bell's Star (Random House) is the second in the Horse Diaries series. Gabriel's Horses (Peachtree), middle grade historical suspense, has been nominated for nine state awards. Find out more about Ms. Hart and her exciting books at www.alisonhartbooks.com