In the face of the worldwide ecological crisis, ecocriticism, "the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment" as "an earth-centered approach to literary studies" has become an important part of contemporary literary theory (Glotfelty in "The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary…

The four canonical gospels provide readers with few details of the life of Jesus as a boy. Many authors of children's bibles in America, however, have been happy to fill in some of the details. This article suggests that these retellings regularly create or adapt stories of Jesus' childhood to teach children virtues that serve to affirm…

This article provides a close reading of Meg Rosoff's award-winning novel "How I Live Now". It argues that an understanding of the text can be extended through an application of ideas found in contemporary spatial discourse concerning place. Reading the novel within this context allows a discussion of ways in which it draws on…

I examine the formation of power as it relates to canonicity through online delivery systems, Amazon and Goodreads, and the academic sector in the contemporary period. The digital age has radically changed literature by providing for a textuality of literature that is multi-channeled, and this project responds by engaging new critical lenses for…

Online booksellers have done a terrific job of developing ways to let customers share their opinions about books with the goal of getting a person to buy more books. They have also made effective use of the bottom line, which is what a customer spends those hard-earned dollars on, to further entice people to add one more item to their cart. In…

Over the last 15 years, the book review landscape has changed seismically. Reviewing is no longer centralized, with a few big voices leading the way, but fractured among numerous multifarious voices found mostly on the web. In turn, readers aren't playing the captive audience any more. Undone by economics, many traditional print sources have been…

In this article, the author reviews "Theory and Educational Research" and concludes that given some misgivings, the collection arrives at a nonfetishized appreciation for the role of theory in empirical research in education. Jean Anyon and her colleagues give theory its due, not more but also not less. In the same move, they recognize…

Literature circles or book clubs are small, heterogeneous groups of students who have chosen to read and discuss the same book together. The research on literature circles suggests that they hold great promise for increasing students' enjoyment of reading and honing their literacy skills. When evidence-based strategies are embedded into a…

In May 2007, the faculty book club that the author facilitates read Chris Bohjalian's novel "The Double Bind" (Shaye Areheart: Harmony, 2007). Bohjalian, a local author, agreed to meet them in Burlington for drinks and conversation. When he arrived, the author and her class introduced themselves, passed around some nachos, and began their…

Deborah Ellis's "The Breadwinner" is a popular young adult novel about Muslim girls. In this paper, we offer an analysis of the representation of Muslim girls and women in the book as well as responses from undergraduate students enrolled in a children's literature course to these constructions. Building on the work of postcolonial feminism…

Situated at the intersections of ethnography, childhood studies, literary studies, and education research, this reception study seeks to access real children's responses to a particular text, and to offer empirical description of actual reading experiences. Survey data is generated by taking advantage of an online resource: an archive of…

In his review of "Polymorphous Linguistics: Jim McCawley's Legacy" (ed. by Salikoko S. Mufwene, Elaine J. Francis, & Rebecca S. Wheeler, MIT Press, 2005), published in volume 28(5) of "Language Sciences" (521-526), Pieter A.M. Seuren claims that McCawley's work after about 1980 greatly declined in quality as compared with his earlier work in…

In this article the author situates the analysis of two popular children's books in theoretical frameworks emerging from American Indian Studies. Using a new historicist lens, she discusses Anne Rockwell's (1999) "Thanksgiving Day" and Laura Ingalls Wilder's (1935/1971) "Little House on the Prairie" and suggests that these…

The idea for a professional development book group emerged from the authors ongoing conversations with colleagues about how teachers can gain the understanding necessary not only to foster and support gender variant and transgender students, but also incorporate these experiences into their curriculum in a meaningful way. In this article, the…

The final point of reading the popular weeklies and monthlies to keep informed about critical attitudes in the book world is that one can bring a more knowledgeable point of view to the bookish side of what is still a book-centered profession. (Author/MM)