Provides the responses of five teachers to the problem of providing a variety of recent short stories, poems, essays and other shorter works for students without violating copyright restrictions. Offers such solutions as using home-grown literature, other students' stories, favorite classroom magazines, old copies of venerable magazines, and…

Argues that reading teachers ought to pay as much attention to what students read as to how they read. Illustrates the state of children's publishing with the heavily revised and simplified Hardy Boys series and with sloppy books about dinosaurs. (RS)

Asserts that assigning adolescent literature to students without first reading a review of the book is risky because the books may contain sexually explicit text. Argues that teachers should not assign books such as "Vision Quest" by Terry Davis, because they contain graphic language. (PRA)

Argues that teachers can ensure against the attacks of censors by instituting formal policies for material selection in English curricula. Gives information about those who actively seek to censor and what their arguments are in favor of censorship. Claims that yielding to censorship degrades the teaching profession. (HB)

Discusses adolescents and their experiences with death. Considers a variety of novels dealing with the issue of death that can help students cope with death in their own lives. Suggests using books about death in the classroom. (HB)

Expresses a wish that more young adult novels would include strong fathers in their storylines, arguing that this might help boys be more thoughtful about their fathers and about the role and important attributes of fatherhood. Offers examples of such figures in several young adult books. Also offers brief descriptions of 11 new or overlooked…

This book presents an informal history of books and reading, beginning with the first clay tablets and continuing on to the latest novels. The history recounted in the book reveals the power books have always had to delight and entertain, and to enlighten, educate, and "raise possibilities." But the story of reading also contains many…

Children should have the opportunity to read a wide range of literature, and the fact that there is a wide range of reading programs being published makes this easy to accomplish. (DF)

Presents psycholinguistic views of second language reading which see reading comprehension as a result of an interaction among three factors: higher-level conceptual abilities, background knowledge, and process strategies. Discusses kinds of reading to teach and kinds of texts and materials to select for different proficiency levels and given…

Describes the usefulness of including historical fiction on reading lists in high school history courses. Lists criteria for selection and instructional use of historical fiction, and provides a list of historical fiction appropriate for use in studying certain topics in United States history. (KH)

Because of the short life expectancy of recent books for adolescents, the author recommends examining the field in terms of its history and also calls for learning more about teenage books in general and teaching criteria for judging works. (CRH)

Cedar Rapids (Iowa) has had a written selection policy and a procedure for handling challenged instructional materials since 1971. An analysis of 112 formally submitted challenges reveals that far more challenged books were retained in the schools than were removed (61 retained, 22 removed). (Author/MLF)

Suggests recent trends in children's literature have been heavily influenced by the adult reader. (HOD)

Examines the need for the evaluation of syntactic complexity of instructional materials in order to match them to students' needs, discusses the shortcomings of traditional analysis, and provides activities that can be used to introduce syntactic structures to students. (HTH)

Suggests that Allison's novel "Bastard Out of Carolina" should join the list of works most frequently chosen for study in school. Notes that, as a narrator, Allison speaks clearly to the social and economic structures which disempower females. (RS)