If you don't read, I don't know how to communicate with you...I can never express who I am in my own words as powerfully as my books can.

I try to teach my students that books are a mirror, reflecting their own lives, and a window, giving them a peek into someone else's.

I realized that every lesson, conference, response, and assignment I taught must lead students away from me and toward their autonomy as literate people.

Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, taking travelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines of school and pursue your own education. Through characters - the saints and the sinners, real or imagined - reading shows you how to be a better human being.

The purpose of schools should not be to prepare students for more school. We should be seeking to have fully engaged students now

Students need to make their own choices about reading material and writing topics.

Books are love letters (or apologies) passed between us, adding a layer of conversation beyond our spoken words.