Kelly Gallagher is a veteran high school English teacher in Anaheim, Calif., and the author of four books on teaching reading and writing. He is best known for his 2009 book Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It (Stenhouse), in which he argues that the widespread lack of interest in reading among adolescents can be traced in part to “inane, mind-numbing” instructional practices found in today’s schools. We recently spoke to Gallagher about the state of student literacy today and what educators can do to help students become more fluent and engaged readers.