Thirty‑one teacher candidates from Indiana colleges and universities were provided with 50 copies of books, including the 20 books for Grades 6‑8 on the 2000‑ 2001 Young Hoosier Book Award list. These books were sent to the teacher candidates in August.  As a result, student teachers with fall assignments were given time to review and plan how to promote the books to students.

      Amy Duhamell from Anderson University did her student teaching this past fall at Hamilton Southeastern Junior High School. Miss Duhamell’s task to engage students in reading the books was facilitated by the fact that the school participates in the Young Hoosier Book Award Program.

      Miss Duhamell asked students to write short essays about their favorite books. Members of her junior high class wrote the following.  Their words illustrate the influence that independent reading has to increase learning and develop critical thinking.

Aron: I really, really liked Monster. The plot was great. I liked all the characters. But I didn’t like Miss O’Brien. She thought they would lose, but all in all it was a good book.

Erika: Monster was excellent! I thought that it was unique in both format and topic. I felt like I was watching the movie that Steve Harmon was watching. I am glad that the jury found Steve not guilty. I think that he had nothing to do with the murder and that he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kelly: I thought Petey was great. It didn’t take very long to read, because I just couldn’t put the book down. You just feel like you are part of the story after starting this book. In my personal opinion, this book is one of the better ones I have read. It made the reader curious about what would happen next in the book. This book left me crying at the end. It also slightly left you hanging on the subject of what happened to everyone else in the story. What about Joe? Whatever happened to him?