Briefly discusses the advantages of using literature to teach geography, and presents an annotated bibliography of 17 fiction and nonfiction books that may be used to develop an understanding of geography in children and young adults. The intended educational level of each book is included in its description. (CLB)

Recommends many books for summer reading enjoyment, concentrating on historical and contemporary fiction. Different cultures clash in William T. Vollman's "Fathers and Crows" and John Demos's adventuresome "Unredeemed Captive." Other suggestions: "Snow Falling on Cedar Mountain" (David Gutterman) and "Foxfire" (Joyce Carol Oates). For professional…

Profiles Paul Zindel, the best-selling author of childrens' and adolescents' novels who combines hyperbole and pathos in such works as "The Pigman;""My Darling, My Hamburger;" and "The Pigman and Me." Zindel is also the author of the play "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds." (MDM)

Discusses the 1990 Canadian film, "Strangers in Good Company," which is semidocumentary and semifiction. Discusses the creation of the movie, the genres it moves between, and how the personal becomes political. (SR)

Argues that nothing is written without some sort of bias. Explains an exercise in which students are forced to confront the issue of where does the truth actually lie by using a "truth line" similar in appearance to a time line, with fiction at one end and nonfiction at the other. (PA)

Discusses how the use of body language in Chinese fiction strikes most Westerners as unusual, if not strange. Considers that, although this may be the result of differences in gestures or different conventions in fiction, it is a problem for translators, who handle the differences by various strategies, e.g., omission or expansion. (NKA)

Notes that the practice of borrowing kinship terms to address people outside the extended Chinese families, heavily reflected in modern Chinese fiction, causes much difficulty for the English translator. Reviews common translation approaches to such culture-related problems and possible distortions resulting from such practices. (NKA)

Hypothesizes about the relationship between history and fiction. Discusses the contribution of history to understanding human affairs, stressing that history is true and fiction is not. Asserts that each generation uses the same materials to construct a new reality. States fiction gives only a partial view whereas history sees the world as whole.…

An annotated list of outstanding fiction and nonfiction books for children is presented, including works recently published in Spain, Venezuela, Chile, Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, Great Britain, and the United States. The 17 books should appeal to Spanish-speaking readers as well as readers on the elementary school level. (LB)

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)

Asserts that in the 1980s fiction for children and adolescents revealed a yearning for the past and an attempt to reassert its "grown up" status through experimentation in both form and content. Offers a list of authors and titles that are frequently cited and have received awards and that seem likely to become "touchstones" for future readers.…

Describes an exploratory study that was conducted to identify the per-page price of a small sample of popular fiction and nonfiction books reviewed by "Booklist." Highlights include a brief literature review; prices analyzed by subject category, type of binding, and presence of illustrations; value; and suggestions for further research.…

Discusses reasons for the popularity of "Star Trek" as a television show and cultural phenomenon, considers the success of formulaic plots, and provides an annotated list of 10 of the best episodes out of all 79 that are available on videocassettes for possible purchase by librarians. (LRW)

Suggests that, at its best, fiction is more than story. Notes that the author did not realize how much more than story there can be, and how important it is to teach children how to mine stories for their deeper pleasures, until she began writing fiction herself. (RS)

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)