This book offers educators and parents who work to forge authentic partnerships between home and school new insights based on the author's experiences with family literacy projects. During an 8-year study, the author examined the experiences of adult participants in school-based family literacy programs, exploring what accounted for sustained teacher and parent interest; the benefits, limitations, and consequences of their participation; how the program meshed with personal history and out-of-school lives; and guidelines for family literacy practice. The 12 chapters are: (1) "The Multiple Meaning of Family Literacy"; (2) "Development of Family Literacy Programs"; (3) "Family Literacy in Schools"; (4) "The Partnership for Family Reading"; (5) "The Women of Family Reading"; (6)"Voices of Mothers"; (7) "Literacy Resources in the Home Environment"; (8) "Home and School Relationships"; (9) "Teachers as Family Literacy Learners"; (10) "Reflections on Gender, Class, and Race"; (11) "Small Wins and Large Circumstances"; and (12) "What's in a Name?" The author provides a list of children's books most frequently used in the Partnership for Family Reading program. (Contains 146 references.) (SM)