Last September, Barnes & Noble opened its first midwestern bookstore in Roseville, a northern suburb of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. I attended the grand opening evening, complete with hors d'oeuvres, live jazz music, store personnel, and New York dignitaries. The next day I shared the experience with my ninth-grade students, showing them a newspaper report of the event, the traditional Barnes & Noble bookbag, and a map of the bookstore. As I told them of the store's similarity to its large New York City original, one of the girls, already an avid reader, said, Can we go there for a field trip? I am an experienced teacher, and I knew that only four days into a new school year was no time to commit to such a potential folly with new students. So I replied, If we do, it will be during the second half of the year. As I settled in for the weekend, however, her idea would not go away. The more I thought of the girl's suggestion and the class's enthusiastic response, the more I thought maybe I could do it. I first brainstormed objectives ninth-grade students could achieve: