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Between the Lines
Reading with Preteens
By Teri Brown
They are the hardest group in the world to tempt with the pleasures of reading. Not teenagers, who are often haughty and proud of their reading habits. Not children, who love to be read to. But tweens. That Web-savvy, Walkman-wearing, MP3 player- toting group of girls and boys who would almost rather do anything than sit down and read a book. 
So what's a parent to do? Help your tweenager set up a book group for their friends with the promise of trips to the mall bookstore (friends included) and lots of free food. Once you have them, keep them with a constant supply of mind-blowing, action-packed, thought-provoking books.
Ricky Stern, one half of the Beryl E. Bean book series writing team, has made knowing the 9- to 12-year-old's mind and giving them books they will read her business. Beryl Bean is a heroine hip enough to be real and wholesome enough to be a good role model. Stern and her writing partner, Heidi P. Worcester, also give workshops on how to get your tween reading through book clubs designed to be fun enough to make tweens want to come back.
"A book club for children this age should be coordinated with your children's friends and should be designed to be fun," says Stern, a New York City mother of two. "Tweens are just becoming social butterflies. They may have after-school activities, and this is the time when homework begins to increase. So any free-time will usually want to be devoted to friends and playing or downtime, and a book club for this age can fill both those needs nicely."