Discusses how people bridge chasms of thought with insubstantial but named fictions to make it possible to cross them in imagination. (HOD)

Explains convictions that historical fiction, often the result of lengthy research, can be very relevant to current problems and that, in the story form which children love, such fiction helps children understand the historical continuity of events. (JM)

Lists books recently published in Spanish or translated into Spanish for children and adolescents. The 23 titles annotated include picture books, renditions of the classics for young people, science books, novels, and romances. (SLD)

Advocates use of bibliotherapy as an adjunct to counseling with stepchildren and remarried adults. Information to guide the selection and use of fiction and self-help books for children and adolescents is provided. Also mentioned are other audiences and uses for the adolescent fiction. (Author)

Reading literature that presents adolescents with realistic and believable youth-aged relationships can help young people understand and have meaningful relationships with the elderly. Reading and analysis of some contemporary adolescent literature that depicts youth-aged relationships revealed that attitudes, actions, and feelings of fictional…

Presents a story describing a chemical mystery with an emphasis on scientific observation and the criminal use of a classic reaction of chemistry. (MKR)

Recalls the author's wandering, drifting years growing up in the Hawaiian Islands. Discusses where fiction fits into the lives of adolescents. (RS)

Presents results of searching "Magazine Index Plus" to compare evaluations of fiction titles in the mid-May 1992 and mid-January 1993 issues of "Library Journal,""Booklist," and "Publishers Weekly." Tables show that while most reviews were positive, there were a substantial number of mixed reviews, and a…

In this interview, author M. E. Kerr reflects on writing for young adults, including her inspiration, her characters, and the issues she incorporates into her works. (KRN)

Suggests that fiction has developed as a human medium of expression to assist people in adapting to the complexities of social organization. Argues that fiction reading leads to improved problem-solving skills, a greater sense of normality, a breakup of rigid and confusing cognitive frameworks, improved socialization, and increased…

Discussion of the availability of multicultural picture books focuses on materials that include African Americans. Examines and suggests titles dealing with folktales from Africa and the Caribbean, African-American history, fiction and nonfiction, and African Americans in contemporary settings. (LRW)

Examines the theme of travel as represented in recent children's literature, specifically realistic fiction, with a focus on common patterns through which child protagonists in the narratives become involved in spatial movement. Considers how selected social factors--namely gender, kinship, and socio-economics--affect such movement. (SG)

Recognizes that the recent terrorist attacks were a powerful reminder that the imagination can be a destructive as well as a constructive force. Addresses the unsettling question of what it means to educate the imagination in the wake of September 11th. (SG)

Explores research on Puerto Rican students in U.S. schools in combination with fiction by Puerto Ricans. Identifies four themes: colonialism/resistance, cultural deficit/cultural acceptance, assimilation/identity, and marginalization/belonging. Asserts that care is the missing ingredient in the education of Puerto Ricans. (SK)

Examines the contemporary realism of the literary character Jack Henry, a middle school child, as representative of two classic literary elements, the quest cycle and the lone hero. Concludes that classic structures of plots and characteristics of hero offer many modern protagonists a shape for their realistic and ordinary adventures. (SG/47)