I talked  to the 9th grade class (all of it) in 8 sessions over three days, and met upperclass students informally before and after school.  The AHS library staff was particularly progressive and pro-active in reaching out to students.  It (the library) hosts a morning "Cafe'" with coffee, sweets and live music; various student organizations host, and this time it was the Amnesty International students.  The library was buzzing at 7:30 a.m, and I signed books and mingled and schmoozed with a great bunch of kids.  (Have to say that I still can't get used to having "food and drink" in a library–but why ever not, and what a great way to gets kid to come in).

The larger value of the all-school read comes from several directions.  First would be the common text  wherein we all meet.  It used to be that everyone had read at least one book in common (HUCK FINN, the BIBLE), but no more.  Second is the matter of meeting a "living author" (as opposed to the other kind).  It's important for kids to know that writers are (at least most of us. . . ) normal people, and that writing is a process, not a miracle.   Which brings me to number three:  I try very hard to intersect with and reinforce what teachers are saying/doing in class.  They love it when "somebody else" makes the same points--about the value of revision, for example–that they making.

The common reader concept is spreading in communities as well, and I've done several of those.  However the community-read is always a bit more complex.  Various "issues" (politics, religion, overall 'message' in the book) arise within the committee charged with selecting the reader, plus it's more difficult to get large numbers of readers in a community-wide event. . . . 

But there's nothing quite like a well-organized all-school read.  There's a concentration of energy and ideas and debate that's akin to Ben Franklin's "burning glass" used to kindle a fire--which, metaphorically speaking, is what a good school and good teachers do.