Independent reading is more than just "drop everything and read" -- it is a gateway to writing, critical thinking, discussion, and deeper learning. Author Jarred Amato, an accomplished middle and high school English teacher and founder of Project LIT Community, believes in the power of independent reading not only to turn around the…

Rooted in examples from their own and others' classrooms, the authors offer discipline-specific practices for implementing antiracist literature instruction in White-dominant schools. Each chapter explores a key dimension of antiracist literature teaching and learning, including designing literature-based units that emphasize racial literacy,…

Graphic novels are an excellent medium to motivate today's youth to become independent learners and thinkers. This practical guide shows secondary school teachers how to incorporate graphic novels into content area instruction as a tool for meeting the needs of diverse learners and achieving the goals of the Common Core State Standards. The…

Outlines a method of teaching "To Kill a Mockingbird" along with the study of poetry. Notes that this method allows students to consider the themes of courage and developing compassion. Concludes that teaching such a multigenre unit allows students to look for connections among fact and fiction, the past and present, their own lives and…

Argues that Jane Austen's novels lend themselves to the high school curriculum, and that students will discover a leisurely, rural world in which the concerns of the young people are often similar to theirs. (SR)

Explores the opportunities offered to children and adults in books with an island survival theme. Examines persistent questions about the nature of children's literature. (MG)

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

While English teachers want students to enjoy reading, to appreciate the beauty of literature, and to recognize the universality of the classics, many adolescent students do not become interested in the aesthetic aspect of literature until they are beyond high school age. Some works, outside the traditional literary canon, speak more directly to…

Presents a rationale for teaching "Catch-22" in the 1980s. (DF)

Adolescent or young adult novels can be paired with classic novels with similar themes to help ease the student transition from self-selected to teacher-assigned literature. (Three examples of the pairing technique are offered.) (Author/RL)

Intended to increase the choices available for teachers and children in the classroom, this book helps teachers deal with the ever burgeoning field of children's books. The first section of the book presents 29 themes on a variety of subjects, such as cats, folklore, money and business, Native Americans, science fiction, sports, villains, and…

Presents brief responses from six educators describing the best young adult novel they have ever read, and why they chose that book. (SR)

Intended to provide rationales for the use of a group of controversial books in American public schools, this manual explains the educational values of 33 of the most frequently challenged books. Detailed rationales include such information as historical perspective, literary elements, pertinence, and thematic content. Some of the titles include…

Intended for junior or senior high school English teachers, articles and features in this journal issue focus on young adult literature and the adolescent audience. The first article, Kevin Major's "The Truth about My Fictitious Friends," describes the genesis of the author's fiction writing for the Newfoundland audience, and is followed…

Outlines a literary study unit on censorship, focusing on issues beyond the classroom. Suggests several student projects which explore the school district's censorship policy and community attitudes toward censorship. (MM)