Superhero themes have been increasingly used in the teaching of a range of topics including business, humanities and science in recent years. Typically, characters from existing popular media are adopted for the teaching activities. On the other hand, customised characters that are developed from scratch allow the educator to have more control of…

The purpose of this study is to consider Superman's acts against impulse-momentum and conservation of momentum principles. Superheroes as fantasy fiction characters attract the attention of not only children and teenagers but also adults. Superheroes can be useful in explaining a phenomenon, as well as overcoming conceptual difficulties that may…

This essay is grounded in the scholarship of teaching and learning and will focus specifically on the ways in which the Harry Potter books highlight the diversity of learning and teaching styles; privilege active experiential learning and problem solving over passive rote learning; and emphasize the benefits of collaboration over competition.…

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2011 annual lists of Fabulous Films for Young Adults and Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults ages 12 to 18. This article presents the titles which were released in January 2011 during the ALA Midwinter meeting in San Diego,…

How do publishers describe the first novels they will be releasing this spring and summer? "Amazing," "fabulous," and "unique" are words that pop up frequently, though hats off to one publicist forthright or cheeky enough to call a work "weird Western/horror." The proof of such praise is in the reading, but why not check out this preview of first…

Thousands of novels are published each year, some of them debuts that promise to be fresh, fun, and maybe even the work of the next John Grisham or Marcel Proust. This article lists a wide-ranging selection of forthcoming first novels grouped by genre, with a listing of the author's state or country for programming purposes. The best of last…

This article presents a list of new novels. The entire compilation is grouped into pop fiction, literary, thrillers, Christian fiction, mystery, romance, historical fiction, street lit, science fiction/fantasy/horror, and graphic novels.

Five years ago, when the author transferred from a local elementary school to her current position, she took one look at the dismal circulation figures and knew she had her work cut out for her. One of the first things she did was create a graphic novel section to attract young male readers. She also began stocking up on guy-friendly adventure and…

This article considers Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" as a text which utilises key codes and conventions of children's literature as a means of encountering the trauma of Fascism. The article begins by placing "Pan's Labyrinth" at a contextual crossroads involving fairy tale and a Spanish cinematic tradition and…

One focus of "Invitational Theory and Practice" is creating positive environments that summon each individual to "develop intellectually, socially, physically, emotionally, and morally" (Purkey & Novak, 2008). Children's literature is a rich resource for teachers and parents to focus on emotional and moral development. This…

This article provides a list of books for librarians. The list is grouped by type: pop fiction, literary, trillers, science fiction/fantasy/horror, romance, western, mystery, and Christian fiction.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2010 annual lists of Fabulous Films for Young Adults and Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults ages 12 to 18. This article presents the list of titles that were released in January 2010 during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston,…

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2009 annual lists of Fabulous Films for Young Adults and Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults ages 12 to 18. This article presents the titles that were released in January 2009 during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver,…

The article examines Cate Tiernan's "Wicca" series. This series and the "Circle of Three" books by Isobel Bird explore the experiences of teenage girls who embrace the pagan religion, Wicca. The texts reflect the growing interest in spirituality expressed by many young people and extend the literary representation of witchcraft. Tiernan produces…

The nineteenth-century fantasy writer George MacDonald believed that "it is better to be a child in a green field than a knight of many orders." In this paper, I shall explore the bearing of this high estimate of childhood on spiritual education. MacDonald explores the spirituality of the child in his essay "A Sketch of Individual Development" and…