This first chapter in "The Challenge of Counseling in Middle Schools" contains four articles that describe strategies for counselors to use in helping middle school students move toward self-understanding. "A Dialogue with Self: The Journal as an Educational Tool," by Dalva Hedlund, Tanis Furst, and Kathryn Foley, describes journal writing as a valuable educational tool for middle school students. "The Effects of Two Methods of Affective Education on Self-Concept in Seventh-Grade Students," by Darryl Lee Bayer, discusses research on affective education and self-concept. Examples of affective education experiences are given and implications for school counselors are offered. "Facilitating the Not-So-Trivial Pursuit of Identity in Adolescence," by Christina Mitchell, describes the identity pursuit concept, a game developed to encourage adolescents to become active in discovering themselves. "Twenty Adolescent Novels (and More) That Counselors Should Know About," by Theodore Hipple, Jane Yarbrough, and Jeffrey Kaplan, provides a list of novels (some annotated) about adolescence, categorized according to problems. Problems addressed include alienation and identity, athletics, close friend or sibling rivalry, death and dying, divorce, drugs and alcohol, ethical dilemmas, handicapped youth, homosexuality, mental illness, parents, prejudice, rape, religious pressures, school, sex, social responsibility, suicide, teenage crime, and teenage pregnancy. (NB)