The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine student experiences reading nonfiction literature in a social studies classroom. It examined the transactions that took place between the readers and the nonfiction literature in a social studies setting at Fullerton High School, a suburban school in Northeast, Ohio. Reader responses, including journal entries, online postings, and poems, classroom observations, and interviews informed the findings. The study found the students' backgrounds and experiences influenced their reading experiences with the nonfiction literature in their social studies class, and as a result, the students created personal transactions or poems with the text. While each student transacted with the text differently, they all experienced self poems, which were transactions directly related to the reader, text poems, which were transactions directly related to other forms of media, and world poems, which were transactions related to the world. As a result of these poems, students experienced other cultures unlike their own. Due to this cultural experience, the students gained an appreciation and questioned their own culture while demonstrating empathy towards others. The implications for research and instruction highlight the use of nonfiction literature in high school social studies classes to create self, text, and world poems. Through the creation of poems, students address some of the themes, such as individual development and awareness of cultures, put forth by the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS), the need to provide opportunities for students to demonstrate empathy, and the recommendation for teachers getting to know their students. They study also informed my reading practices as an English teacher. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]