Muses on the meaning of last month's column, chides instructional materials that include instructions on how and what to think about their contents, and lists a large number of books that the author recently enjoyed reading. (SR)

Presents descriptions of the seven books selected for the 1991 Honor Listing. (SR)

Describes how a high school English teacher used the novel "Cold Sassy Tree" in an elective course entitled Thanatology: A Literary Approach. Notes that the novel clearly addresses virtually every aspect of death, dying, grieving, and loss through an artful array of three-dimensional characters. (RS)

Questions the reasons for continuing to teach the same texts by canonical writers, instead of works of greater depth and meaning by the same authors. Describes other, less canonical works that are suitable for the secondary English classroom. (HB)

Assessment of the values (positive behavior, positive feelings, negative behavior, negative feelings, traditional values, Judeo-Christian religious values, other religious values, and neutral situations) presented in both American and Hispanic basal reader series found several differences among publishers and cultural groups that lead to…

Relates the author's frustration with the idea that writers of young adult literature should avoid profanity and make the books unobjectionable. Discusses the need for truth in telling the stories of his characters, and asserts that making his books unobjectionable would be to lie about what it is to be human. (PRA)

Reviews 10 new releases by new young authors of adolescent literature. (PRA)

Presents descriptions of nine historical novels (not set in the Americas) recommended for junior and senior high readers, ranging from seventeenth-century Japan and nineteenth-century China to Shakespeare's London and war-torn Europe in the twentieth century. (SR)

Offers seven reasons for using Big Books with young children. Discusses how to make and use Big Books. (PRA)

Provides a fresh look at the genre of historical fiction and its use in the classroom. (MG)

Presents an annotated list of the 10 best fiction and the 10 best nonfiction young adult literature published in the 1980s. Notes that the books mix popularity and quality into a cake of reading motivation. (RS)

Discusses eight booklists, catalogs, or book review sources chosen by secondary school teachers as their favorites. (PRA)

Examines Bloom's ideas on reading and books, suggesting that his stance on determining greatness is philosophically flawed and arguing that his prime criterion for selecting great texts is premised on a problematic theory of legitimation and greatness, leading to a restrictive view of possibilities for university-level reading. The Freirean notion…

Presents brief descriptions of 38 children's books that are "inspiring." Organizes books in six sections: inspiring lives; inspirational characters; inspirational family times; inspirational celebrations; inspiration rising from adversity; and "too good to miss." (SR)

Discusses textbooks and the myth of the homogeneous classroom, differentiated reading assignments (DRAs), locating sources for DRAs, evaluating appropriateness of reading sources, collecting and organizing DRA sources, creating individualized student assignments, providing content exposure for students who cannot read available materials, and…