The first book I ever read was Twain's _Huckleberry Finn_. I was so impressed with the book that I became an English teacher. Not all at once, but six years later I began a career of encouraging reluctant readers and setting free those already hooked on books. Thirty six years later and I am finally beginning to understand readers and what works.

I presently teach English composition at CCC, and I find that there are as many emerging readers and writers among adults as there are among adolecents. The first principle that one must remember when presenting literature is choice. The reader must select what he or she will read. Like water, readers seek their own level, and the tides of easy and hard reads are controlled by their own making. The 101 other practices of encouraging the joy of reading will have to be explained at some other time.

However, "Books in the Wild" is a great metaphor for this principle. The image of someone accidentally running into a book and deciding to read or not to read is really an answer. Have you heard of "Poetry 180," the daily free sharing of poetry in the classroom? It shares the spirit of "BookCrossing."