Junk Food Books

Rated at a fifth grade reading level
by the University of Arkansas

"[U.S.] High school students today are reading books intended for children with reading levels far below those appropriate for teens, according to a recent report.
     A compilation of the top 40 books teens in grades 9-12 are reading in school shows that the average reading level of that list is 5.3 -- barely above the fifth grade.
     'A fifth-grade reading level is obviously not high enough for college-level reading. Nor is it high enough for high school-level reading, either, or for informed citizenship,' writes Sandra Stotsky, professor of education reform at the University of Arkansas."
— Huffington Post
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"Our nation's (U.S.A.] graduating high school class of 2011 had a 32 percent proficiency rate in math and a 31 percent proficiency rate in reading [...]
     When it comes to reading, American students performed reasonably well compared to most European countries, and only 10 countries outperform us by a statistically significant amount. In Korea, 47 percent of students are proficient in reading. Other countries that outrank the U. S. include Finland (46 percent), Singapore and New Zealand (42 percent), Japan and Canada (41 percent), Australia (38 percent), and Belgium (37 percent)."
— School Library Journal
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