Illiteracy in America

I read this book during the summer and changed my Chidren's Literature syllabus to begin the course with the reality of illiteracy and aliteracy in this country. There is no acceptable excuse for the level of illiteracy that this country has, having dropped to 27th of the United Nations countries, but the levels of aliteracy are even more frightening because they reflect on the methods used in teaching reading and on citizens being willing to be spoon fed what is happening within their world by the media or any group that wants to do so.