Examines junior high school students' adolescent literature selection process. Finds that the summary on the inside flap and the cover illustrations are the most frequently used cover clues for book selection. (RS)

Suggests that storybooks provide a unique tool for engaging students in the active formation of the values of caring and concern and that storybooks have several advantages over nonfiction tradebooks and content area textbooks. Discusses choosing storybooks for science themes, using storybooks to teach science themes, and evaluating storybook use…

Reviews 37 different back-of-the-book (BOB) summaries to evaluate how helpful these summaries are for adolescent readers selecting a book for recreational reading. Finds that BOB summaries focus largely on plot events and do so accurately. Notes that teacher education students valued the accuracy of the summaries. Demonstrates the value in using…

Discusses 10 reasons to end the senior year of high school with Bernard Malamud's novel "The Natural." (RS)

Advocates inclusion of Marianne Wiggins' novel "John Dollar" in high school reading lists and literature classes. Notes that the novel is an allegory rich in poetic suggestion, metaphorical language, and symbolic meaning. (RS)

Argues that excerpts from the literary canon and from contemporary nonfiction should be included in secondary education textbooks of the future, contrary to the opinion of militant whole language supporters. (RS)

Reviews Dover Publications' new series of literary classics published as inexpensive paperback editions. Finds the books able to withstand physical abuse. Recommends selecting the volumes that comfortably fit the curriculum and enlarge the choices within the department. (RS)

Discusses the importance of encouraging students to read books from and about other countries for them to see commonality instead of differences. (MG)

Provides the responses of five teachers to the problem of providing a variety of recent short stories, poems, essays and other shorter works for students without violating copyright restrictions. Offers such solutions as using home-grown literature, other students' stories, favorite classroom magazines, old copies of venerable magazines, and…

Argues that reading teachers ought to pay as much attention to what students read as to how they read. Illustrates the state of children's publishing with the heavily revised and simplified Hardy Boys series and with sloppy books about dinosaurs. (RS)

Asserts that assigning adolescent literature to students without first reading a review of the book is risky because the books may contain sexually explicit text. Argues that teachers should not assign books such as "Vision Quest" by Terry Davis, because they contain graphic language. (PRA)

Discusses four books that can capture the interest and touch the lives of teenage wrestlers. Asserts that, if teachers understand the wrestler's predicament, they can become part of a supportive network actively showing support for a student-athlete's goals, desires, and interests. (PRA)

Reviews 21 new books and provides a list of previously published books that teachers will find helpful in introducing young children (between 4 and 8 years old) to earlier eras. (PRA)

Argues that teachers can ensure against the attacks of censors by instituting formal policies for material selection in English curricula. Gives information about those who actively seek to censor and what their arguments are in favor of censorship. Claims that yielding to censorship degrades the teaching profession. (HB)

Provides annotations of 35 easy-to-read picture books, informational books, easy-to-read chapter books, and poetry collections that serve as bridges from one type of reading to another. (RS)