The significance of adolescent literature has been judged on the basis of the developmental tasks encountered by the main character. One writer has identified eight developmental tasks that teenagers must undertake as they move toward adulthood: discovering one's sex role in our culture, developing relationships with peers, achieving an easy relationship with members of the opposite sex, accepting one's physical body, changing relationship with parents, working for pay, finding a vocation, and becoming aware of one's value patterns. A number of adolescent novels recently published include a ninth developmental task exposure to and acceptance of someone's death. Some novels show successful coming to terms with death, others show less successful adaptation. A few novels that include this task are "Confessions of a Teenage Baboon" and "Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball" both by Paul Zindel, "A Figure of Speech" by Norma Fox Mazer, "Cinnamon Cane" by Melinda Pollowitz, and "I Am the Cheese" by Robert Cormier. In each instance, acceptance of the death of another is the key to maturity for the main character. (TJ)