Organized around high-interest contemporary themes, A Community of Readers: A Thematic Approach to Reading, Third Edition, presents college reading skills in the context of real-life issues relevant to students' communities-in the classroom, in the neighborhood, in the nation, and in the world.

The authors use a unique pedagogical system called PRO (P-repare to Read, R-ead Actively and Reflect, and O-rganize to learn) that is introduced in the first chapter and then reinforced in every chapter opening and chapter review, giving students a concrete learning device to follow. Each chapter also introduces a key reading skill (main idea, vocabulary, inference); all readings in that chapter center on the same theme. This thematic organization helps students develop schema while improving their reading skills. The third edition emphasizes both the basic reading skills and higher level, critical reading skills: examining fact and opinion, understanding bias, and thinking critically.