Recommended by: Donna Phillips, Oneida Middle School librarian, Schenectady Federation of Teachers, Schenectady City School District

Suitable for: Education professionals

Why I chose this book: Any educator with a few extra hours to invest in professional reading this year will find Sullivan's new 100-page book worth the time. It addresses the range of issues that conspire against boys becoming able and enthusiastic readers in the same numbers as girls — and proposes some practical and sometimes cheeky solutions.

How teachers can use this book: Sullivan actually uses the accomplishments educators have made by proactively reshaping math and science curricula as a "blueprint" for addressing the equally urgent problem of boys and reading. He urges a better selection in school and classroom libraries of texts for boys, less quiet and more social reading coupled with physical activity, more storytelling and seating boys shoulder-to-shoulder instead of face-to-face when they interact with books. Sullivan also pushes for better role models, advocating schools institute "a new dress code" in which male staff must carry a paperback book in their back pocket at all times.

What I like best: Sullivan presents a number of forces conspiring against boys' reading, including a recap of the recent science in gender differences; and the political obsession with standards and testing that deprive educators of the resources needed to provide students, especially boys, with the time, texts and teaching styles needed to cultivate lifelong reading. 

Check It Out features books recommended to teachers and parents by school librarians.