As Penny Kittle says, “Teenagers want to read - if we let them.”  Literacy is one of the most important indicators of academic success.   According to Kelly Gallagher, “To become a lifelong reader, one has to do a lot of varied and interesting reading.”  A student who reads twenty minutes each day will gain over 1 million new words each year and will likely score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests.  Reading is also proven to reduce stress and anxiety.  Thus, students will engage in self-selected texts and track their progress and their takeaways from their reading.