This paper examined the portrayal of 28 librarians depicted in 25 romance novels published between 1980 and 1995. The purpose of the study was to measure how that portrayal compared to the stereotypical image so often criticized in the professional literature. Furthermore, the results of the study were compared with the results of a master's…

This action research project was developed in order to increase student literacy, particularly in the area of reading, for students who were considered at-risk. The targeted student population was 2nd grade students who were served within a primary cross-categorical special education program. The classroom was housed in an elementary (K-2) school,…

This paper contains a historical review of the literature pertaining to American popular literature and analysis of two different samples of adult fiction on best sellers, one an analysis of readability levels and one an analysis of the portrayal of female characters. In the first analysis the Fry Readability Formula was applied to each of 60…

There has been a recent surge in the popularity of youth fantasy books; this can be partially attributed to the popularity of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Librarians and others who recommend books to youth are having a difficult time suggesting other fantasy books to those who have read the Harry Potter series and want to read other similar…

This study explored the themes in children's fiction with the subject of an alcoholic parent and evaluated the treatment of the subject in novels from the 1960s and the 1980s. It was hypothesized that, compared to writings from the 1960s, writings from the 1980s would more often contain references to the disease concept of alcoholism, would more…

Two purposes prompted this study: to determine the growth and development of children's books about Mexico and Mexican-Americans in terms of content, illustrations, and format, and to determine whether there has been a change in the image of Mexico that is portrayed in these books. A total of 661 children's books were examined to determine the…

The purpose of this study was to examine and evaluate the portrayal of death in selected fiction books for children. The sample consisted of 90 books which were listed by six authors discussing the appearance of the death theme in children's books. A method of content analysis was applied as the research design, and each book was analyzed on the…

The image of the librarian has engendered much discussion among professional librarians. Children's fiction and picture books are good mediums in which to examine the image of the librarian, since they provide impressionable children some of their earliest cultural knowledge. Children's authors can supply powerful images by means of text and…

Selected recent adolescent novels which center on a young adult's relationship with an older adult are analyzed. In these novels which feature older adults and young adults as main characters, the older character has qualities that the teenager examines, then accepts or rejects. In today's nuclear family, teenagers sometimes have very little…

This study analyzed the conceptualization of the parental role represented in selected children's books, using the following dimensions: need gratification and control, stimulation-maturity, and affection-emotional interchange. The sample consisted of 26 books representing equally two time periods, 1950-1960 and 1964-1974. A comparison of these…

The essay defines and illustrates ways in which the anxiety of separation and the fantasy of dirt play a key role in shaping the response of readers to texts loosely defined as "racial." The work of Wheatley, Wright, and Baldwin, as well as that of some of the new black poets, is examined in relation to the psychoanalytic theories which…

The adult novel offers indexers an unusual opportunity to create a serialized fiction index. This research paper involved designing and creating a Character Index, Thesaurus, Glossary, and Abstract (with descriptors) for 21 novels based on the "Star Wars" movies. The novels are an unusual example of serialized fiction featuring main…

A sample of fifteen short stories, taken from the universe of short stories in ten hard-cover literature anthologies, was investigated to determine which characteristics of fiction would be most appealing to a panel of ninth grade student judges. The responses of seventeen ninth grade student judges were recorded on fourteen rating scales…

Content analysis of children's books recommended, between 1883 and 1939, for American libraries indicated that immigrants were not depicted to any great extent in the books studied. It was also found that increases and decreases in the number of recommended children's books describing immigrant characters were not correlated with immigration…

The two primary objectives of this dissertation were to describe the 48 novels taught in English classes in a specific secondary school in Pennsylvania and, through a survey, to determine whether these novels were unique or representative of novels taught in other Pennsylvania schools. The description of each novel includes a critical summary, the…