Discusses three ways that high school English teachers can use young adult books: as books for whole-class study, as read-alouds, and as "classroom library" books to recommend to students for independent reading. Presents criteria for selecting novels for classroom study and for reading aloud. Mentions 53 young adult novels to consider for these…

Describes and discusses four resources (one quarterly magazine and three books) which are compilations of writing (and sometimes artwork) of students in grades 6 through 12. Argues that these writings can help to engage students with literature, to explore new ideas, and perhaps to stretch their own wings further as they see new possibilities for…

Argues against using literature with high school students that is relentlessly dark, depressing, and self absorbed, which English instructors often find Deeply Significant, and which many students find repulsive. Argues that what many young readers want now is a literature of hope. Recommends 20 such books. Offers brief descriptions of 10 new or…

Discusses how the literature chosen for classroom instruction does not often address issues that confront students, and that teachers are faced with students who often do not want to read printed matter. Suggests winners of the Caldecott Award provide teachers with easy access to literature that will greatly enhance their knowledge of contemporary…

Argues that English teachers should remember that nonfiction is the preferred reading choice of many of their students, and can be a "good read" and have superb aesthetic qualities. Offers guidelines to help educators design strategies to elicit student responses about nonfiction in the classroom. Describes 25 recently published outstanding…

Discusses and answers objections to young adult literature which generally fall into one of two categories: that young adult books are bad because they are not the classics, and/or they corrupt the young. Offers brief descriptions of 12 new or overlooked young adult books worth reading. (SR)

Highlights an elementary school where teachers help children build good reading lives by teaching reading through literature circles. Discusses five essential strands of thinking that guide the teaching of reading through literature study: building community, reading literature, having choices in reading, participating in open and lively…

Twenty 2-year-olds and their mothers performed joint book-reading tasks involving narrative and expository genres. During the expository genre, the mothers asked significantly more questions, used more labels, and provided more positive and negative feedback to their children compared to the narrative genre. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Finds that the 35 middle-school language-arts teachers studied agreed that Self Selected Reading (SSR) is an important way to improve students' reading attitudes and achievement, but that their schools rarely provided funds for buying student-preferred materials, and that finding time for SSR was difficult because of the pressure to prepare for…

Discusses the power of books and literacy, the power of giving students their own books to take home, and young adult novels in which the importance of books is a major theme. Offers brief descriptions of 27 books (mostly novels) whose stories focus on the power of books and literacy. (SR)

Presents evidence from the W. H. Smith Children's Reading Choices Project research in order to examine the relationship between achievement in English and the reading habits of 10- to 14-year-old children. Argues for the importance of recognizing and respecting the range of reading children engage in, and the popular reading cultures in which they…

Presents brief descriptions of 24 books that are likely to interest gifted readers in the middle grades. Notes that such literature can serve to bolster their overall development and also enhance appropriate self-advocacy for their talents. (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)

Considers how reading Jane Tompkins'"Sensational Designs" helps foster a new appreciation of the ways in which students contribute to the creation of a literary work. Discusses how students responded to their semester-long study of various "neglected" 19th-century women writers. (SG)

This article provides teachers with a list of books and ideas for teaching about disabilities. Forty-six books are identified, 17 received either the Newbery or the Newbery Honor Award. The list of books includes a brief summary of the plot, the main disability discussed, and other curricular applications. (Author/CR)