Life at Robby Hummer's house is wild, fun, and a big mess since his twin brother and sister were born. At school, he'd rather read quietly than play games at recess of watch a filmstrip. But his teacher thinks he reads too much and sends him to Mrs. Van Gent, the schol counselor. Sheesh! Since when is liking books a problem? Meanwhile, some kids at school think it's weired that Robby's father stays home to take care of the twins while his mother works. Robby worries that, if his family is not like everybody else's, the authorities could take him away from them. When he learns that Mrs. Van Gent is coming to dinner, he knows she plans to spy. He's got to turn the Hummers into a normal family-now!

Written for librarians, teachers, and researchers, this is the second five-year supplement to the authors' Dictionary of American Children's Fiction, 1960-1984 (Greenwood, 1986). Its 567 entries cover 189 award-winning children's books by 136 authors published from 1990 to 1994. Included are concise critical reviews of novels, biographical profiles of authors, and descriptions of memorable characters. An appendix lists books by the awards they have won, and an extensive index allows complete access to the wealth of material contained within this reference work. Included are alphabetically arranged entries for those works that critics have singled out to receive awards or have placed on citation lists during the five years covered by the volume. The reference also contains biographical entries for leading authors of children's fiction, with entries focusing on how the author's life relates to children's literature and to particular works in this dictionary. The volume provides a list of awards, along with an appendix classifying individual works by the awards they have won. An extensive index provides full access to the wealth of information in this book.

Here are seventeen original short stories that reflect young adults' views on friendships and prejudice, expectations and disappointments, and connections and confrontations.

Lovisa King, 17, comes of age on the Oregon Trail and finds the strength to help her family survive a deadly shortcut on their journey to the Willamette Valley.

The summer before her fourteenth birthday, a fierce forest fire rages throughout northwestern Oregon and threatens the logging camp where Storie and her family live.

Spending the summer at her family's beach house off the Oregon coast, twelve-year-old Shelby struggles to accept her older cousin's new interests, her favorite uncle's marriage plans, and her own growing up.

Created in consultation with teachers and public librarians, this fantastic collection of 101 ready-to-use book lists provides invaluable help for any educator who plans activities for children that involve using literature. Nancy J. Keane is the author of the award-winning website Booktalks—Quick and Simple (nancykeane.com/booktalks), as well as the creator of the open collaboration wiki ATN Book Lists. With 101 Great, Ready-to-Use Book Lists for Children, she provides another indispensable resource for librarians and teachers. The lists in this book are the result of careful consultation with teachers and public librarians, and from discussions on professional email lists. These indispensable reading lists can be used in many ways—for example, as handouts to teachers as suggested reading, to create book displays, or as display posters in the library. This collection will help educators support the extended reading demands of today's children.

In answer to the perennial question "What else should I read?", these innovative resources go beyond linear listings of suggestions to help students find books through a variety of directions, including subject, author, and genre. Each guide contains approximately 30 displayable bookwebs that can be used as posters, with reproducible bookmarks that list related titles and fit into pockets on the posters. Each web leads users to 8 to 14 related topics that have lists of relevant books with their authors and brief LC descriptions. Detailed author, title, and subject indexes make further exploration easy. Hundreds of the best fiction books for young readers, titles commonly found in school library collections, are covered in the webs. The visual, nonlinear features of these books make them unique and user-friendly tools for educators and students alike. Perfect for the bulletin board, the bookwebs are a great way to stimulate reading!

Bully-Proofing Children is a comprehensive guide for parents, teachers, and all caretakers on the often overlooked but pervasive issue of bullying in our culture. Parents and teachers will be able to use the questioning techniques, scripts, tips and stories for dealing with this timeless issue. Children of all ages will relate to the real-life stories and they will also identify with the themes, characters, and feelings as they gain an insight and understanding of why bullying and teasing occurs and that it has nothing to do with them.