While the contents of K-6 basal readers have been recently examined (Dewitz, Leahy, Jones, Sullivan, 2010; Moss, 2008; Moss & Newton, 2002), the contents of secondary school literature anthologies have been vastly ignored in the last 2 decades. Given the Common Core State Standards' division of literary and informational text across content…

Teachers often find themselves lamenting the loss of emergent readers to video games, television, and, most recently, the TTYL (talk/type to you later) culture of text messaging and Internet social networking. Trying to impart the joy of a good read to middle school students feels like pushing religion onto the perfectly content worshipers of…

Discusses the difficulty of creating recommended reading lists, examining the development of California's recommended reading list and suggesting that lists succeed or fail not because of a book that is or is not included but because of the range they suggest. Concludes that in order to be successful, a list needs constant revision by teachers,…

Intended as a guide for local-level policy makers, curriculum planners, teachers, and librarians, this addendum to "Recommended Readings in Literature, Kindergarten through Grade Eight" includes over 260 titles designed to supplement and extend the original list. Organized by overlapping grade levels, the addendum offers many titles that…

Examines the role of literature in the California's History-Social Science Framework (1988). Surveys the goals of incorporating literature into the Framework and identifies types of literary works used to enhance content learning at each level. Presents criteria for evaluating and selecting instructional materials and lists major purposes for…

Written for young people, this book traces the accomplishments of Cesar Chavez, a labor leader who fought to improve the lives of Mexican-American farmworkers in California. Chavez was born in 1927 in the Gila Valley, Arizona. When Chavez was 10, his family lost their farm and was forced to move to California and become migrant workers. Chavez and…

This collection of stories and memories, suitable for adolescents, offers a perspective on both traditional and contemporary ways of California Indians. Some stories are from old reports and books, and some are from people of today. The introduction ties the wide variety of Indians that live in California to the variety of landscape and climate.…

This book contains memoirs about growing up as the son of Mexican immigrants in rural California, as well as stories that the author's parents told him about their childhoods and village life in Mexico. In a preface and introductory stories, the immigrant explains how his family culture sustained him during bad experiences in school, and describes…

This book incorporates many photographs portraying the life of a migrant family in a camp near San Diego, California. Houses in the camp are built of salvaged plywood with plastic sheets as roofs. Twelve-year-old Juan and his two younger brothers sleep on an old mattress atop a plywood platform. Juan's mother, stepfather, and younger sister sleep…

This book, compiled by teachers, administrators, curriculum planners, and librarians located throughout California, is meant to (1) encourage students to read and to view reading as a worthwhile activity; (2) help local curriculum planners select books for their reading programs; and (3) stimulate educators at the local level to evaluate their…

This book contains interviews and poems in which the children of Mexican migrant farmworkers in California describe their daily lives and their dreams for the future. The nine interviews with children and adolescents aged 9-18 are presented as personal narratives that tell of long hard hours in the strawberry fields, constant moving from place to…

Describes the growth and development of a library program serving a shelter for abused and neglected children and youth and a juvenile detention center in Orange County (California). Program funding, materials preferred by teen users, library management, special events, and problems are discussed. Teen patrons and their use of the services are…

Intended as a guide for local-level policymakers, curriculum planners, teachers, and librarians, this book lists over 1200 titles of books as examples of good literature for high school students. It is intended to encourage educators to review their literature programs and the accompanying instructional materials and to encourage students to read…

Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2009 proceedings, see ED504973.]