Using Book Clubs to Enhance Social–Emotional and Academic Learning With Urban Adolescent Females of Color

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to elucidate how book clubs can be used as a forum to enhance students' social–emotional and academic learning. The author conducted a study in a small urban high school with 2 different book clubs: The younger group consisted of 2 African American 9th graders, 2 Latina 9th graders, and 1 African American 10th grader; the 2nd group consisted of 11th-grade girls—2 African Americans and 5 Latinas. Qualitative data came from various sources, including observations, interviews, book club discussions, and surveys. The author conducted pre-interviews with all 12 girls to document literacy, family, and school information; she used post-interviews and surveys to analyze the girls' attitudes toward their experiences. She transcribed and analyzed all interviews and book club discussions (a total of 22 meetings with the younger group and 24 meetings with the older group). The findings show that book clubs promote academic literacy learning and the competencies of social–emotional learning.