Fifteen-year-old Alex struggles to overcome personal trauma and hardship as she competes with her arch rival for a place on the New Zealand swimming team participating in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

Spanning grades 1-10+, this annotated bibliography of 970 recommended American and world titles published through early 1994 includes adult titles suitable for young readers; at least 200 of the titles are award winners. In support of interdisciplinary English and social studies curricula, librarians and teachers can easily assemble a basic list of books on a geographical place and time period. Geographical sections are divided into historical time periods within which entries are organized alphabetically by author. Each entry contains both reading and interest grade levels, a short incisive annotation about the historical event, setting, plot, protagonist and theme, current publication availability, and awards won. Seven reference appendices allow for easy searching. These helpful appendices and an authors, a titles, and an illustrators index help to make this volume a critical professional tool.

Selected for their high interest, appealing formats, appropriate reading levels, outstanding writing, and popularity, these contemporary, spellbinding titles (20 for grades 5-8 and 20 for grades 9-12) reflect a variety of genres and themes that will encourage lifelong literacy. Given for each title are genre and themes, review citations, author information, plot summary, reading and interest rankings, booktalks, literature extensions, alternative book report suggestions, and reproducible bookmarks that suggest further reading.

Drawing on her long experience as a school librarian, the author uses this middle school library programming book to help you promote free voluntary reading through innovative workshops, staff training, collection development, and collaborative curricular planning. Her goal: to revive the enthusiasm for reading that is often lost by the middle school years. Her recommendation: creative library literacy programming designed to pique flagging interest in reading for pleasure. Chapters focus on how to use the school's calendar and curriculum to get the time needed for the focused program as well as ways to manipulate budgets, get grants and other monies to build a strong literature-oriented program and collection. One chapter focuses entirely on how to get faculty to become readers of YA and children's literature in order to become models for their students. Other programs discussed are author visits, book fairs, whole school reading programs, journaling for readers and many more. Also included is an annotated bibliography of great reads. Grades 4-12.

School and public libraries often provide programs and activities for children in preschool through the sixth grade, but there is little available to young adults. For them, libraries become a place for work—the place to research an assignment or find a book for a report—but the thought of the library as a place for enjoyment is lost. So how do librarians recapture the interest of teenagers? This just might be the answer. Here you will find theme-based units (such as Cartoon Cavalcade, Log On at the Library, Go in Style, Cruising the Mall, Space Shots, Teens on TV, and 44 others) that are designed for young adults. Each includes a display idea, suggestions for local sponsorship of prizes, a program game to encourage participation, 10 theme-related activities, curriculum tie-in activities, sample questions for use in trivia games or scavenger hunts, ideas for activity sheets, a bibliography of related works, and a list of theme-related films. The units are highly flexible, allowing any public or school library to adapt them to their particular needs.

A guide to preparing book talks for young people, ages twelve to sixteen. Presents plot analysis, thematic material, book talk material, and additional suggestions on a variety of titles for each of eight themes of goals of adolescent reading.

A knockout collection of 16 original stories featuring young adults playing basketball and football, running track and cross-country, and training for the triathlon. Challenges abound in water sports, racquetball and tennis, boxing and wrestling, and the "ultimate" sport of the future.

Whether two teachers are covering the same topic in separate classes, or designing a thematic unit with the school librarian, this handy guide to nearly 800 award-winning historical fiction for Kindergarten through 8th grade will assist all parties in the selection of high quality literature.

When thirteen-year-old Carly finds herself in the hospital with a fractured spine and discovers that she will have to wear a brace to walk again, her condition helps her put her other problems in a different perspective.

This is a classic, standard resource for collection building and on-the-spot readers advisory absolutely indispensable for school and public libraries.