Even the students who viewed reading the same way a water-averse cat does a bath wanted more after reading The Outsiders, so our next novel was That Was Then, This is Now. Our class had become almost a book club, with everyone eager to look for subtext they related to. Again, this was more than mere storytime. They wanted to get personal. They looked in the book to understand themselves with the reflective questions I gave them. Just as we encourage students to share their background…