2000 Top Titles for Adult New Readers
The Resources for Adult New Readers Committee of PLA’s Library Services Cluster is pleased to offer its list of Top Titles for Adult New Readers. The booklist is meant to recognize such titles and to encourage the availability of materials for the adult new reader.
Books chosen for the list demonstrate high appeal in terms of content, format and illustration. Titles are eighth grade reading level of below on the Fry Readability Scale. This year’s list is divided into two parts: Recommended Titles to Read On Your Own and Titles Suitable for Working with a Tutor. The books listed were published primarily in 2000.
Recommended Titles to Read On Your Own
Baseball. By James Kelley. Eyewitness Books. Dorling Kindersley.
2000. Fry Reading Level 7. ISBN 0789452413 $15.95
Celebrate America’s national pastime in pictures; the history, the
heroes, the gear, and the games. Everything you ever wanted to know,
from how a diamond is laid out to how a mitt is constructed is in this
volume. Lavishly illustrated with photos.
Big Book of Cars. By Trevor Lord. Dorling Kindersley
1999. Fry Reading Level 7. ISBN 078944738x $14.95
Huge, colorful photos illustrate the details of 13 amazing cars from
the pink Cadillac of the 1950s to futuristic cars now on the drawing
boards.
Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing. By Melissa Bank.
Viking. 1999 Fry Reading Level 6. ISBN 0140293248 $12.95
This funny novel, set in New York City, follows Jane Rosenal’s search
for love and happiness. Appealing to women who have ever looked for
"Mr. Right".
Katie.com: My Story. By Katherine Tarbox. Dutton. 2000.
Fry Reading Level 6. ISBN 0525945431 $19.95
A lonely, alienated teen finds a whole new social scene online. Through
e-mail messages, she falls in love for the first time. But when they
meet, her dream man is actually a middle-aged pedophile.
The Monster Stick & Other Appalachian Tale Tales. By
Paul & Bil Lepp. August House 1999. Fry Reading Level 3.7. ISBN 0974835771
$9.95
A collection of outrageous original tales about weather, fish, hunting
, politics, and education. The clever, whimsical art of the book design
reels the reader into the Lepp Mountain Tall Tales.
Wake of the Perdido Star. by Gene Hackman and Daniel Henihan.
New Market Press 1999. Fry Reading Level 6. ISBN 1557043981 $24.95
Set in the years 1805-1808, this sea adventure depicts the life of
Jack O’Reilly, sailor and renegade obsessed with revenging the murder
of his parents. Includes fascinating descriptions of early 19th century
salvage operations.
Titles Suitable for Working Together With a Tutor
They Were My Friends. Oakland Readers Health Project. Fry
Reading level 1–2. ISBN 1-928836-03-8 $10
I Could Leap Through a Cheerio. Oakland Readers Health Project.
Fry Reading level 3–4. ISBN 1-928836-04-6 $10
Quest for Life: The Search Deep within Your Soul to Find Your True
Inner Spirit and Reason for Being. Women of Oakland. Fry
Reading Level 1–2. ISBN 1-98836-05-4 $10
Proclamation of Independence: Announcement of Personal Freedom and
Total Self-Reliance, the Declaration That You Are an Individual of Worth
and Value. Women of Oakland. Fry Reading Level 3–4. ISBN
1-928836-06-2 $10
The above four titles are life stories told by students in the Oakland
Public Library’s Second Start Adult Literacy Program. The two series
of oral histories, Oakland Readers Health Project and the Women of Oakland,
consist of two readers, each reader containing edited student interviews.
Besides student stories the volumes include follow up questions and photographs
of the authors. All were published in 1999 and are available through Peppercorn
Books.
The Jack Sloan Series by Agnes M. Hagen: New Readers Press.
2001. Fry Reading Level 3. Price: check with publisher
Tin Star Promise. ISBN 15683048x
Justice on Horseback. ISBN 1568530498
Shotgun Revenge. ISBN
Mississippi Stranger. ISBN
Jack Sloan is the hero of this four volume series set on the Texas frontier.
When his wife is killed by outlaws and his young son abducted, Jack Sloan
tracks down the killers and brings them to justice. His reward is being
made Sheriff. Further adventures, love, intrigue and excitement are found
in the other three titles.
Johannes Gutenburg by Betty Lou Kratoville. High Noon Books.
2000 Fry Reading Level 2. ISBN 1571281428 Price: check with publisher
Overcoming many obstacles, Johannes Gutenburg pursued his dream of
developing the printing press and changed the world. Interesting brief
overview of the history of books.
The Wright Brothers by Betty Lou Kratoville. High Noon
Books. 2000 Fry Reading Level 2. ISBN 1571281452
The Wright Brothers’ interest in flight, which led to the first powered
flight, inspires readers to achieve their own dreams. Illustrated with
black and white photographs.