“A book that is brilliantly incisive and generative beyond words, Culturally Responsive Reading is a gift that will be welcomed in classrooms everywhere.”
—Junot Díaz, author, This Is How You Lose Her
“As the nation still struggles with literacy development and how to engage students in reading and analyzing literature, this book provides research-based and practical solutions for culturally responsive reading. Dr. Washington provides a guide on how to select, promote, and engage children in reading literature that disrupts ‘misreadings’ and Eurocentric texts. She centers inclusivity, representation, and criticality in a time where we need it most. Culturally Responsive Reading should not be optional, but instead a necessary read for every educator who seeks to cultivate the next generations of leading readers and thinkers of the world.”
―Gholdy Muhammad, associate professor, University of Illinois Chicago and author, Cultivating Genius and Unearthing Joy
“There is still much work that needs to be done in our efforts to teach in culturally responsive ways. Washington’s book, outlining her new LIST Paradigm, provides an important foundation, especially for secondary teachers, to develop the strategies needed to help students read and analyze literature by writers from different cultural backgrounds.”
― From the Foreword by Carolyn Denard, founder and board chair, Toni Morrison Society
“An exciting, much-needed book that enriches our understanding of literature, from Shakespeare, Lahiri, and Cisneros, to Morrison, Komunyakaa, and Adichie.”
—Verner D. Mitchell, The University of Memphis
"As a reader who sometimes feels reluctant to explore multicultural literature, I found Durthy Washington’s book inspiring and motivating. Her LIST paradigm as a guide to culturally responsive reading encouraged me to read novels I had previously found too complex and intimidating. Highly recommended!"
"How many times have you read a novel, a short story, a poem or other work of literature only to quickly forget much of what you read in it? Especially if it tells stories of different complex characters, a different culture, time and place and it uses stylistic and language devices that may not be familiar to you?
Well, this highly readable and thought-provoking book by Durthy Washington addresses these and many other interesting ways that will enhance anyone’s reading experience. Whether the reader is a student or a teacher of literature, or someone reading independently for enjoyment, we all stand to benefit greatly from Washington’s approach and suggestions. She devises this effective paradigm abbreviated as “LIST” for Language, Identity, Space and Time that she has applied successfully in her literature classes at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. By examining each of these concepts that are present in most every piece of writing, the reader emerges with a deeper sense of meaning of the text and a closer connection to the content and subject matter that authors aim to convey to his/her/their readers..."
Washington convincingly maintains that traditional (Eurocentric) reading materials often fail to represent the rich diversity of cultures, experiences, and histories that make up our society. Moreover, even when teachers or readers do branch out to more culturally diverse works of literature, they tend to approach them from the point of view of a Western Paradigm which typically results in misinterpretation.
By providing real-life examples, suggested readings and research-based evidence, the author compellingly argues for the urgent need to adopt more inclusive teaching and reading approaches. With her proposed LIST Paradigm (Language, Identity, Space, and Time), Washington introduces a clear roadmap for educators and readers to analyze diverse works of literature through a lens of culture, thereby encouraging critical thinking as well as a more accurate understanding of these works..."
