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Acknowl­edgments I was strongly motivated to write this book ­after presenting my talks as a volun- teer Older Reader judge for the ­ Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards. I cannot describe how amazing it was to discover that my research could be so val- ued, so I would like to thank the enthusiastic teachers and librarians who ­ were so keenly interested in my research in this area. It’s always nice to discover the ­things that obsess you are of interest to other ­people in the real world. I would also like to thank the attendees at my pre­sen­ta­tion at the International Literacy Association in Florida in 2017 for the selfies and for asking me if I was writing a book—it moti- vated me to write faster. I would like to thank my ­ children, Sam and Gabe, for being patient with me, for dragging me out of my nerd state back into humanity, and for respecting the “no spoilers” decree (most of the time!). Thanks to my husband Marián for always sup- porting me and making excellent food. Thanks to my parents for making books available to me as a child, for taking me to the library a lot, and for giving me time and space to read. Extra thanks must go to my mum, who provided ­ great feedback on the early drafts of this book. Thanks to Curtin, Murdoch, and Edith Cowan Universities who have supported my research. Thanks to my mate and colleague Dr. Saiyidi Mat Roni for being both a highly valued collaborator and an inspiration (bro’, your genius is unnatural). Thanks to Dr. Susan Ledger, collaborator on the RAS proj­ect and generous former neighbor in the Murdoch Education building. Thanks to Dr. Leonie Ruther- ford, Michelle McRae, Associate Professor Katya Johanson, and the rest of the Deakin team for fun times in Melbourne and for sharing the challenge of engag- ing young ­people in reading. I would also like to thank my former doctoral super- visor and coauthor Associate Professor Brian Moon, who allowed me ­ free reign on my PhD and who built my sense of confidence in my research by allowing me high autonomy. Your enabling attitude gave me the confidence and space to find my passion for research. Thanks to Dr. Julia Morris for being a ­ great colleague, friend, and inspiration and to Associate Professor Laura Perry for the supportive mentoring. I also thank Professor Daniel Callison for approaching me to express his inter- est in my work and for recommending my work to the publisher. I am grateful for the amazing support that I received from Sharon Coatney at ABC-­ CLIO. I would