Jessica (14) sent me some interesting facts about reading that she has discovered in her research.  I thought they were worth sharing with you:

A FEW INTERESTING STATISTICS ABOUT READING IN THE U.S.

56 percent of young people [public school kids] say they read more than 10 books a year, with middle school students reading the most. Some 70 percent of middle school students read more than 10 books a year, compared with only 49 percent of high school students

15% of all 4th graders read no faster than 74 words per minute, a pace at which it would be difficult to keep track of ideas as they are developing within the sentence and across the page

The educational careers of 25 to 40 percent of American children are imperiled because they don't read well enough, quickly enough, or easily enough.