Critiques five novels by James Salter--THE HUNTERS, THE ARM OF FLESH, A SPORT AND A PASTIME, LIGHT YEARS, and SOLO FACES. Notes that Salter's works have been ignored by literary critics and the public though praised by other authors. (MM)

Recalls the captivating characters; tidy, confident writing and winsome illustrations in the 50-year-old minor masterpiece, "Mr. Popper's Penguins." (SD)

Contends that "disillusionment novels" are characterized by a circumscribed vision of the world which itself is a function of limits set upon the authors by the historical situation of their position in society. Analyzes two Nigerian classic examples of the genre, Chinua Achebe's "A Man of the People" and Wole Soyinka's…

Discusses some works by the following Australian writers of young adult literature: Ivan Southall, Patricia Wrightson, Bill Scott, Ruth Manley, Allan Baillie, Colin Theile, Ruth Park, Lee Harding, Robin Klein, and Eleanor Spence. (MM)

Critiques the work of Appalachian writer Gloria Houston who has written six children's books based on the culture and history of rural North Carolina. Her most successful work, "My Great-Aunt Arizona," presents an alternative to the usual stereotypes of backwoods teacher and school. Includes a bibliography of Appalachian children's…

These volumes offer a blend of genres, authors, and purposes. Specific portraits are provided for each volume in chronological order. The central historical and educational values are in the view that the books give of the world of petit-bourgeois African-American women at the turn of the century. (SLD)

Analyzes "The Great Auction Sale of Slaves, at Savannah, Georgia" (1859), a popular work by Mortimer Neal Thompson, an American humorist better known by his pseudonym, Q.K. Philander Doesticks, P.B. The book is one of the most readable, credibly authentic accounts of the abuses of slavery. (BJV)