Gillette, WY -- July 30, 2007

Reading the latest Harry Potter. He is the third one in his family to get it. His eighteen-year-old son was first, finishing it in just one day, followed by his wife.

Recently he read Death Without Company, by Craig Johnson and Empire Falls, by Richard Russo. He reads everything by Adyashanti, a spiritual teacher based out of the Bay Area, who studied fifteen years under a Zen teacher who then decided he needed to go out and teach, too.

He and his wife always share their books. His wife is about half-way through Death Without Company right now.

He is a High School English teacher and he has "book talks" with his students, talking with them about the books they’ve read. They like Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank. Her books are popular with teens now. One student said it made her see her mom in new light. He says kids are always telling him, after reading a book, how it made them see things differently and what it made them think about.

For young adults he recommends Chris Crutcher, a popular Y.A. author. It’s entertaining from a plot standpoint and situations are thoughtful. The author ran an alternative school and was a family therapist. He pegs adolescent situations in a thoughtful way and he has a great sense of humor; he does rich, complex characters and introduces themes like sexuality, morality and familily and relationship issues.

He also told me about S.L. Rottman, a young adult writer who writes for junior high and early high school who asks the question, why write? Because so many ideas are exploding inside she would go insane.