My Own Story , to informational books on this or other Asian countries.
Adolescence is the transitional time when reading preferences move from fiction to nonfiction.
During the 1990-91 school year, I began a biography circulation count in the middle school library media center which then served approximately 170 students. While this preliminary count showed the numbers of circulating biographies, it did not satisfy my curiosity about the actual books that students were reading or their motivations for doing so. Consequently, after that first year, I expanded the data collection to include title specific information on the biographies students were circulating. The school library media center's circulation system was not automated so information was gleaned directly from circulation cards. Experience with the teachers and the students, and an examination of the 1990-91 counts led to the belief that the students were checking out biographies only when they were required reading for assignments.