A resource for finding appropriate works of adolescent literature and, when necessary, defending them against challenges, this book presents the recommendations of 25 educators concerning novels, nonfiction works, and short story collections that adolescents enjoy. Contributors provide synopses, sample excerpts, and brief author biographies, along with activities and objectives for teaching, as well as ways to deal with potential censorship challenges. Comments from teenagers supplement many of the rationales. Selection guides categorize titles by theme and by age level. Each rationale offers alternative and related titles. Essays are: "Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence" edited by Marion Dane Bauer (Nancy Prosenjak); "Weetzie Bat" by Francesca Lia Block (Karen Williams);"The Moves Make the Man" by Bruce Brooks (Chris Crowe); "Lakota Woman" by Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes (Rene Schillinger); "The Crazy Horse Electric Game" by Chris Crutcher (Shirl Chumley); "Ironman" by Chris Crutcher (Lisa A. Spiegel); "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer (Sylvia Pantaleo and Rebecca Luce-Kapler); "A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest J. Gaines (Durthy A. Washington); "Annie on My Mind" by Nancy Garden (Lynne Alvine); "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse (Jackie E. Swensson); "Jack" by A. M. Homes (Greg Hamilton); "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston (Dawn Latta Kirby and Angela Dykstra); "The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver (Rebecca Luce-Kapler and Sylvia Pantaleo); "Spite Fences" by Trucy Krisher (C. J. Bott); "Memoirs of a Bookbat" by Kathryn Lasky (Donald R. Gallo); "In Country" by Bobbie Ann Mason (Lou Orfanella); "Out of Control" by Norma Fox Mazer (Linda Broughton); "Shizuko's Daughter" by Kyoko Mori (Connie S. Zitlow); "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers (Jolene Borgese and Susan A. Ebert); "If I Should Die Before I Wake" by Han Nolan (Jeffrey S. Kaplan); "When She Hollers" by Cynthia Voigt (Suzanne Lustie); and "Montana 1948" by Larry Watson (Susan McGinty). (RS)