Presents an interview with award-winning author Karen Hesse, discussing her writing for children and young adults. Discusses how ideas for particular books arose, as well as the research and writing processes that went into them. Appends reviews of nine books by Karen Hesse. (SR)

Describes events and mountain places that influenced the writing of the author's young adult novel "Beardance." (SR)

Describes how the author realized that his prepubescent Superboy hero is not brave and represents what can never be. Describes how he came to believe that true heroes are defined by how they respond to what they do "wrong." Notes how this affects the author's writing and the heroes he creates in his novels. (SR)

Describes how the author's life has been one long adventure with language, and how the distinction between reading and writing blurs into a continuum of words, images, and ideas. Describes his first ventures towards reading, which began by engaging in the spoken word with his mother. Describes his writing processes, and the six-part story form he…

Presents 54 thank you letters written by authors (of children's literature, young adult literature, and professional texts) to classroom teachers, from the shadow of the events of September 11th, 2001, offering their thanks for teachers' efforts to face those events with children, offering their personal thoughts about the events, or their…

Describes how the author helps his students understand the power of books and the impossibility of predicting what book will profoundly affect a person, by asking two questions: "What book made the biggest difference in your life?" and "What was that difference?" Describes the profound impact on the author's life of John…

Offers short descriptions of 12 books for young adults that involve outsiders and that explore conflicting needs for identity and community. Argues that books may provide the spring boards for a dialog which has heated up since September 11th: how we as a nation can stand united yet retain our strength in diversity. (SR)

Offers brief annotations of 18 books for young adults which are the author's favorites: books that break new ground with unusual styles and formats; that discuss hitherto taboo topics; and present fresh distinctive new voices for readers. (SR)

Discusses text features that tended to engage boys, and describes their desire to use literacy to share and socialize. Finds that boys were more different than alike, and that very particular conditions in the social context were more important than preexisting interests. Offers brief descriptions of 11 books the author has found to be appealing…

Offers brief annotations of 24 books for adolescents in which girls take on tough tasks, face seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and triumph over adversity. (SR)

Offers brief descriptions of 25 books, both fiction and nonfiction, that are accessible to struggling readers, provide a high-quality reading experience, and may allow them to break through their difficulties to see reading as something of value to their lives. (SR)

Offers brief descriptions of 23 mysteries that will appeal to adolescent readers. Notes that further lists of excellent titles in the category of juvenile and young adult mystery are available on the Edgar Allen Poe website at http://www.mysterywriters.org/awards.html. (SR)

Presents brief annotations of 11 articles that consider the place of young adult literature in the classroom. Notes that these 11 are judged the best of Hipple's compilation (published in "The ALAN Review") of 99 fine articles about young adult literature, articles that were written across several decades and published in a variety of journals.…

Discusses changes in the field of young adult literature since the 1980s. Examines how the definition of "young adult" has evolved. Offers a brief overview of the history of young adult literature from the 1940s. Considers the rise of awards for merit in young adult publishing, noting three in particular. Concludes this is a golden age of young…