Designed to help teachers, students, and parents identify engaging and insightful books for young adults, this book presents annotations of over 1,400 books published between 1994 and 1996. The book begins with a foreword by young adult author, Chris Crutcher, a former reluctant high school reader, that discusses what books have meant to him.…

This book offers 20 contemporary biographies of young women across the United States who are making a difference in their schools and communities through community service. Examples of community action include feeding the hungry, recycling, saving the bluebirds, and promoting literacy. The girls and young women emerge as leaders in an area of…

This book examines the cultural universal of education from a multicultural perspective and a time dimension. The text is written for juveniles, and includes many color photographs. Chapters include: (1) "What is Education?"; (2) "The Americas"; (3) "Africa"; (4) "Europe and the Middle East"; (5) "Asia"; and (6) "Australia and the South Pacific."…

This thematic unit is all about what a classic novel about race relations in the 1930s American South, "To Kill a Mockingbird," and a frequently banned contemporary teen story about a candy sale, "The Chocolate War," have in common. The unit considers what people have in common, what it means to stand apart, and what…

Many high school students are on a quest to find out who they really are. Using the theme of "Searching for Identity" in both "A Fine White Dust" and "Great Expectations" will help students identify their feelings. Cynthia Rylant's "A Fine White Dust" has easier language than "Great Expectations,"…

Noting that a student's study of a state becomes more meaningful when children's and young adult literature is used as an enhancement, this book offers Florida-related works of literature to broaden the study of the state. The book is organized by category: history, historical fiction, biographies, plants, animals, fiction, geography, and travel.…

As with the regular issues of "Biography Today," this special subject volume on "Authors" was created to appeal to young readers in a format they can enjoy reading and readily understand. Each volume contains alphabetically-arranged sketches. Each entry in the volume provides at least one picture of the individual profiled, and…

This preliminary study of 20 contemporary realistic fiction books for youth, in middle school and above, analyzed images of poverty using a framework adapted from the work of Robert Leahy. Findings are related to demographics, images of poverty and emerging themes. Results indicate that, as a whole, the sample of books rely on concrete images of…

Explores reasons why teenage students who know how to read choose not to do so, and emphasizes the importance of reading as an enjoyable and valuable pastime. Discusses aspects of reading that reluctant readers may not know and lists 25 titles that may appeal to such students. Provides teachers and librarians with suggestions for helping reluctant…

Answers teachers' questions about using children's literature and young adult literature with adult students. Offers suggestions for using these books in the classrooms, and for selecting such books. Offers a list of 24 picture books and young adult books useful for adult learners. (SR)

Discusses bibliocounseling, in which students read and react to writing about situations or persons similar to themselves. Overviews key points counselors should be aware of before engaging in bibliotherapy. Presents an annotated bibliography of recent works selected for bibliotherapy comprising fiction for adolescents, and nonfiction for…

Presents 18 ideas for talking about books with junior and senior high school students. Topics discussed include starting with nonbook materials such as magazines, music, and videos; discussing popular authors and series; student participation in reading aloud dialogs from books; relating personal experiences; and surveying students' reading and…

Discussion of a project in which adolescent novels were analyzed in terms of the characters' incorporation of information skills in problem solving notes the lack of information skills models in adolescent literature. Ways to use these novels--even though they lack models--to teach adolescents information and problem solving skills are suggested.…

Argues that incorporating literature into daily reading instruction opens up avenues that junior high remedial students may never think exist for them. Presents eight techniques to help teachers get started using literature in the remedial classroom. (RS)

Microcomputer applications in the learning resources center and the classroom are discussed in 10 articles. Some of the topics discussed include library automation, the selection of computers for classroom use, the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction, a review of computer software programs that feature dinosaur graphics, and computer…