The attitudes of grade 6 middle school students and teachers toward their social studies textbook, "American Neighbors," (Macmillan, 1980) were measured through conversations, interviews, classroom observations, questionnaires, attitude measures, student letters to textbook authors, and a metaphor task. The case study, which took place between November 18 and December 18, 1981, in a Champaign (Illinois) school, also examined viewpoints of: students and teachers on different levels and at different schools, administrators, learning coordinators, other staff, and parents. The document is presented in 4 parts. Part I describes the schools and teachers and the history of social studies textbooks in the Champaign schools. Part II compares criteria devised by administrators, students, teachers, and parents for the ideal sixth grade social studies textbook; the acceptability by all groups of a single as opposed to a multi-text approach; and the specific acceptability of "American Neighbors." This part contains results of attitude measures and sample letters from students to textbook authors. Part III examines textbook use issues. The role of the textbook according to the curriculum committee, administrators, teachers, parents, and students is described. Dependency on textbooks by all groups, and student and teacher styles of textbook use are also examined. Part IV, the conclusion, presents 10 questions related to textbook content and approach for publishers, educators, and parents. Appendices outline research methodology and contain data forms, documents, and quantitative tables. (KC)