Journal of Teaching and Learning Vol. 15, No. 1 (2021), pp. 78-80 www.jtl.uwindsor.ca 78 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Book Review: Living Literacies: Literacy for Change by Kate Pahl and Jennifer Rowsell, with Diane Collier, Steve Pool, Zanib Rassool, Terry Trzecak Cambridge, MA, USA: The MIT press, 2020, 108 pages ISBN: 978-0-2625-3971-5 (paperback) Reviewed by: Chenkai Chi University of Windsor Pahl and Rowsell’s (2020) book is situated in New Literacy Studies (NLS), which emerged in the 1980s when sociocultural theories became popular in the field of literacy (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). NLS critiques the traditional psychological and cognitive approaches to literacy as being limited (Gee, 2000; Street, 1997). The NLS argue that literacy is a social practice, not a mental phenomenon, and therefore it needs to be studied in an integrative way that considers a full range of contexts—such as cultural, historical, and social aspects—in addition to cognition (Gee, 2015). Different types of literacies arise from this premise, such as critical literacy, media literacy, financial literacy, physical literacy, and math literacy. Within these various literacies, it is necessary to highlight the essence of literacy as a social practice. In Living Literacies: Literacy for Change, Pahl and Rowsell contribute to this growing body of literature by outlining a living literacies approach. This book is composed of seven chapters. In chapter one, Rowsell and Pahl define living literacies and provide historical context for the book. In chapter two, Rowsell and Trzecak consider seeing as an approach to literacy. In the third chapter, Pahl and Rasool discuss literacies of activism based on their lived experiences. In chapter four, Phal and Pool adopt a hopeful approach to literacy practices. A hopeful approach understands contextualized literacy practices through literacy’s potential meanings that “flow through the past, into the present, and on into all potential futures” (Pahl & Rowsell, 2020, p. 39). Collier and Rowsell, in chapter five, propose a new way of knowing the world through exploring the digital and nondigital texts young people use. Chapter six, contributed by Pahl, Pool and Rasool, explores the connection between creativity and literacy to reimagine literacy, and finally, Roswell presents a summary of the book in chapter seven.