en Expanding Middle School students’ Literacy Skills using the Journey Motif in Three Middle Grade Novels and Short Stories تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research <span style="font-family:times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;">This paper analyzed three middle grade novels and a short story from two cultures using the journey motif as the vehicle for the analysis. The three novels are <em>Bud Not Buddy</em> and <em>The Watsons Go to Birmingham</em> both by Paul Curtis&nbsp;&nbsp; and <em>Journey to Jo&rsquo;burg</em> by Naidoo (1986). The short story is <em>My Two Dads</em> by M. Lee.&nbsp; The three novels and a short story were chosen because these novels are on the reading list for students in many school districts in the USA at the middle grade level. The analysis showed that for the three novels and a short story in the study, each text adhered to some elements/ parts of the journey motif. The paper then suggested 10 literacy strategies that can be used by English Language Arts teachers to engage learners, make the instructional process more interesting and hopefully improve achievement for all learners. &nbsp;</span></span> <p>This paper analyzed three middle grade novels and a short story from two cultures using the journey motif as the vehicle for the analysis. The three novels are <em>Bud Not Buddy</em> and <em>The Watsons Go to Birmingham</em> both by Paul Curtis&nbsp;&nbsp; and <em>Journey to Jo&rsquo;burg</em> by Naidoo (1986). The short story is <em>My Two Dads</em> by M. Lee.&nbsp; The three novels and a short story were chosen because these novels are on the reading list for students in many school districts in the USA at the middle grade level. The analysis showed that for the three novels and a short story in the study, each text adhered to some elements/ parts of the journey motif. The paper then suggested 10 literacy strategies that can be used by English Language Arts teachers to engage learners, make the instructional process more interesting and hopefully improve achievement for all learners. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> education, graphic organizers, journey motif, literature circles, Korea, race relations, reading journals, transactional theory education, graphic organizers, journey motif, literature circles, Korea, race relations, reading journals, transactional theory 1 9 http://ijreeonline.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-10&slc_lang=en&sid=1 James S. Etim etimj@wssu.edu 1003194753284600729 1003194753284600729 Yes Department of Education, Winston Salem State University, Winston Salem, USA, NC 27110