For aficionados of the new realism in young adult literature, Poe (English, Radford U.) showcases one of its early and continuing stars. Wersba's biography and analysis of her themes in such classics as The Dream Catcher (1968) are interwoven. Rounding out the critical portrait is a chronology and awards list for this writer, actress, teacher, publisher, loner, and friend of adolescents trying to find and accept themselves. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Seventeen-year-old Noli feels as if she has found her soul mate when handsome, sensitive TJ moves to Sag Harbor, but even as their feelings deepen, individual secrets threaten their relationship.
This text, based on Louise M. Rosenblatt's transactional model of literature, focuses on the application of transactional reader-response theory in the classroom. It grows from frequent requests from secondary school and college teachers for teaching suggestions on how to put theory into practice. This is not a "What should I do on Monday?" cookbook, but an expression of the practice of theory in college and secondary school classrooms. The chapters portray a spectrum of strategies--including biopoems, expressive and imaginative writing, journal writing, readers' theater, role playing, and unsent letters--using as examples individual works from several genres. Recognizing that teachers who may have been trained in other theories and methodologies may be hesitant about their quite different role and expectations in the reader-centered classroom, the authors provide stepping stones to develop readiness and confidence, suggestions, and insights to ease the transition to the transactional model of teaching and learning. Pedagogical features: * An explanatory introduction to each section defines its orientation and describes the content and direction of the chapters it contains. * Invitations elicit engagement of readers with concepts, attitudes, or strategies presented in the chapters; they invite readers, as individuals or members of a small group, to consider ideas or to practice a strategy, among other activities, in order to enhance understandings. * A glossary defines key concepts and strategies discussed in the text. * A bibliography provides an extensive list of resources--books and journal articles--both theoretical and applied. New in the second edition: * Six new chapters--three deal with the roles of film-as-literature in the English classroom, and three with enhancing multicultural understandings. * Updates and revisions to several chapters that appeared in the first edition. * Invitations, new in this edition, have been added to focus and expand readers' thinking.
How do you get children excited and engaged with books? Get them onstage! Readers Theatre is a staged reading of literature with participants reading from scripts, conveying the book’s story using voice and facial expressions. In this book Poe introduces and shows how to implement the concept, demonstrating how Readers Theatre offers educators an innovative opportunity to acquaint children and young people with quality literature, develop their public-speaking skills, and teach teamwork in an activity that is as entertaining as it is educational. A veteran of many Readers Theatre programs, she explains how to create successful programs, providing Detailed instruction for ways librarians can help children and teens develop and perform their own Readers Theatre scripts An annotated bibliography of 100 books suggested for their Readers Theatre potential, with excerpts from scripts and the passages from which they were adapted Programming ideas that can be adapted for use across different age levels, from preschool to YA Comments from prominent children’s authors who have shared Readers Theatre experiences with Poe Combining the theoretical and the practical, Poe’s book helps children and YA librarians assist young people in developing a lifelong love of literature.
At the request of her many fans, Patty Campbell, editor of the Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature series, has selected some of her best essays, articles, columns, and speeches in Campbell's Scoop. These pieces define the boundaries between children's and adult literature and review the trends, censorship, problems, and glories of the genre. Other essays reflect on some concerns and interests of young adult literature as it has matured: the verse novel, ambivalent endings, violence, the sometimes dubious value of awards and honor lists, the graphic novel, and the difficulties of the genre's recent overwhelming success. A section titled "Inside ALA" looks at the author's many years of service to that organization with, among other pieces, a firsthand look at the Best Books committee at work and a report of her attempt to unite booksellers and librarians in common cause. Many of these selections show the idiosyncratic wit and passion that have made Campbell's column a favorite with Horn Book readers: an exploration of the meaning of the glut of YA novels with death as a theme or character; an indignant denunciation of the fictional abuse of animals; a snarky analysis of "chick lit;" and a technical review from the belly-dancing critic of a YA novel featuring that ancient art. On a more serious note, Campbell pleads for what she calls "Godsearch" in books for teens and pays tribute to her late friend Robert Cormier. Without question, the essays in Campbell's Scoop provide readers with the unique insights of an advocate who is passionate about young adult literature and its future.
Two lonely creatures find that companionship is closer than they thought in this charming tale of friendship This is the story of a writer and a reader. The writer is a person. The reader is a rat. They share an old house on Long Island, but have never met. How these two lonely creatures discover one another is the essence of this story.
Expecting the usual carefree and happy summer with her cousin Paul at their grandmother's seaside home, Madge finds this summer to be different from all the others.
