Joining a Community of ReadersBy: Roberta Alexander Wadsworth Cengage Learning 2011Reviewed By: Dr. Joseph S. MarescaThis is a wonderful book on the basic methodology forcritical reading. The author begins by instructingstudents on how to study by assessing the contentsof the book, organizing time, deep concentrationand previewing what you read. Another important stepis to connect the writer's presentation with what youknow already. Make an assessment as to whether or notyou agree with the author. This is all part of maximizingthe learning experience at every level in school.Reading improves vocabulary- particularly for reading literature ata grade appropriate level . Personally, I find that researching theadvanced vocabulary first is most helpful. How can anyone reada book without understanding the vocabulary ? Books containinghighly specialized vocabulary require even more advanced preparation.A good author will define advanced vocabulary at the end of the bookso that readers will not be required to consult the dictionarythroughout. The same is true for advanced vocabulary used intrades, professions or highly technical research.The author spends some time defining that the topic is what theparagraph is about; whereas, the main idea is the overall pointthe author wishes to make about the topic. Another importantpoint is to realize that details support the overall positionof the author or at least they should do so.The end of the book has an extensive section on graphical analysis.The author carefully explains how to interpret pie graphs, bar graphsand tabular formats.Lastly, the author reviews test taking techniques utilized inobjective questions and essays. Qualifying words; such as,most, some, all, none or few are often employed on exams.Essay formats may require students to discuss, define, compare,contrast, refer to causality, analyze, summarize ormake evaluations, holistic impressions or assessments.The overall presentation is excellent for students in high schoolor college. The price is reasonable. Every student should haveeither this book or one like it in order to read and write critically.The rules set forth in this book apply to foreign languagereading and writing as well.