The author takes the experience of book challenges as an opportunity for positive curricular changes by walking readers through the development of a formalized procedure for selecting new, diverse texts to add to the English Language Arts (ELA) program curriculum. The text-selection committee arrived at a six-step method: (1) Identify Desired…

A national survey of senior secondary English curriculum content has confirmed that contemporary literature predominates among set texts, being seen as an "essential" category for study because of its "relevance" in helping students "understand the world in which they live." Perhaps uncontentious -- depending on the…

Presents recommendations of six excellent works of fiction that fall between short story and novella. Concludes that the short story will continue to be the staple of the one-semester literature course, but for those instructors who would like to add a longer piece or two without committing to a full-scale novel, theses stories are worth…

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…

Considers how in order to highlight the disastrous effects of systematic racial oppression, ethnic American writers of young adult literature have portrayed their characters struggling to break free of poverty against overwhelming odds. Discusses the problem of poverty in three adolescent novels. Concludes that poverty can be an equal opportunity…

Discusses the genre of fantasy novels, noting its popularity with adolescent readers (especially boys). Notes sources helpful to teachers and school librarians, and lists a few personal favorite fantasy novels. Offers a brief note on whether the Harry Potter books can be considered young adult literature. (SR)

Suggests some criteria for evaluating young adult (YA) literature. Presents three ideas for criteria, and annotations of 12 YA novels published in 2001 or 2002 that meet the criteria. (SG)

Reviews Dover Publications' new series of literary classics published as inexpensive paperback editions. Finds the books able to withstand physical abuse. Recommends selecting the volumes that comfortably fit the curriculum and enlarge the choices within the department. (RS)

Contends that historical fiction is popular with young readers and has much to offer them. Provides frameworks for selecting and teaching such novels and for linking them to classics from the same historical period. (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…

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)

Uses 14 novels to illustrate 9 characteristics that exemplify the best young adult novels written about urban youth. Notes that the novels were chosen because in their characters, their settings, and the problems that drive their plots, they respond honestly and with understanding to the needs of urban teens to read about people "just like" them.…

Introduces two books about magic, one a collection of essays "Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader," which describes the author's inherited lifelong passion for books and reading; and the other a novel, "Mangos, Bananas and Coconuts: A Cuban Love Story," which tells a story of love and magic that seems both real and…

Discusses how romantic novels can be used to generate interest in the secondary school classroom. (DF)

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