Guest Blogger Rachael Walker is the Outreach Consultant for AdLit.org, a national multimedia initiative offering resources to the parents and educators of struggling readers and writers in grades 4-12 and for Reading Rockets, a national multimedia initiative which aims to inform and inspire parents, teachers, childcare providers, and others who touch the life of a child by providing comprehensive, accessible information on how to teach kids to read and help those who struggle. Rachael began her career in children’s literacy at Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), has also served as a consultant to the NEA’s Read Across America campaign, and was most recently the Executive Director of Reach Out and Read of Metro DC.

I was pleased to read Susan Carpenter’s article in the Los Angeles Times last week about more and more adults reading young adult literature.  But I was a little sad too—the secret is out!  Now I’ll have adults as well as kids to compete with for the newest John Green novel on the library shelf.

Of course, this crossover audience has been building for some time thanks to authors like Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling.  But there is loads of young adult and children’s literature out there that has grown up appeal:

Biographies.  Biographies written for tweens and teens are great for adults.  As a parent, I’m finding that these quick reads have lots of great history and facts that can help you help your child on his own learning journeys.  Spend an hour or two with a title from the Giants of Science series and impress your kids during homework time! READ MORE »