Focusing on young adult reading and instruction, this issue addresses teachers' concerns about recommended recent authors and books, integrating independent reading into the reading program, and student motivation. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Some YA Authors Worth Knowing, and a Few Books, Too" (Ken Donelson); (2) "The Novels of Jill Paton Walsh: Gifts for the Lords of Time" (Sue Lewis); (3) "Fantasy Made Real: Books by Robin McKinley" (Carolyn L. Powell); (4) "The Best in Fantasy and Science Fiction: A High-Interest Booklist for Young Adults" (Patricia Harper and Cynthia Helms); (5) "Appealing Nonfiction" (Norma Gardner); (6) "The Way We Will Be: The Search for Gender Identity in Young Adult Books" (Judith Rosenfeld); (7) "Increasing Sensitivity to Sex Role Stereotyping: Classroom Exercises and Discussion Questions" (Barbara Hoyt); (8) "No More Plot Summaries: Teaching Critical Focus in Independent Reading Responses" (Elizabeth McMahan); (9) "From Independent Study to Term Paper" (Patricia Geiser); (10) "'Lord of the Flies': A Cooperative Approach" (Teresa Lucie-Nietzke); (11) "Strategies to Encourage Independent Reading" (Kathy Schlatter); (12) "Oral Reading: Magic and Motivation" (Margaret E. Rinkel); (13) "Reading across the Curriculum: A Holistic Approach" (Sue Izett, Barbara Randolph, and Marion Carroll); (14) "No Man Is an Island: A Book Discussion Seminar for the Gifted" (Christine Wahl Billone); and (15) "Garden Hills Turnaround in Reading" (Phyllis Wilken). (JD)