High/Low Handbook: Best Books and Web Sites for Reluctant Teen Readers Fourth Edition

by Ellen V. LiBretto, Catherine Barr

Overview

Finding well-written and engaging material for teens with substandard reading ability can be a challenge. This handbook is designed to help, describing more than 500 of the best new titles for reluctant teen readers and serving as a wonderful readers' advisory and collection development tool. The book is completely new and reorganized since its previous edition and is divided into two major sections. The first offers a core collection of fiction and nonfiction high/low titles, organized into broad topical areas that appeal to teens, such as careers, exploration, sports, disasters, and teen cultures. The second part presents mainstream YA books and magazines that can be used to build and supplement the core collection. Web sites and graphic novels have been included in addition to the totally new selection of titles. Grades 6-12

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313322761
Publisher:	Libraries Unlimited
Publication date:	12/30/2002
Series:	High/Low Handbook
Edition description:	4TH
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

ELLEN V. LIBRETTO, Marketing Consultant for independent publishers, is based in New York.

CATHERINE BARR, editor of such bestselling titles as Reading in Series and From Biography to History, is based in Milford, New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

Finding appropriate and appealing materials for reluctant teen readers is a challenge for librarians and educators. The fourth edition of this standard guide is a basic resource to help bring unwilling readers, books, magazines, and Web sites together. Part 1 offers a Core Collection, fiction and nonfiction titles with reading levels up to and including sixth grade. Topical divisions such as "Teen Culture," "Love, Sex, and Relationships," and "Disasters" divide the nonfiction. The fiction core collection contains titles from vendors such as Perfection Learning, Globe Fearon, and New Readers Press. These books might work best in the classroom because their design and binding can create shelving issues in public libraries. From sixty-four to fewer than two hundred pages in length, these titles might appear distastefully babyish to their intended audience. The publication dates of many titles, 1989 to 1998, could also be a concern. The second part, Young Adult Materials for the Reluctant Reader, includes many popular but relatively demanding titles, such as The Killer's Cousin (Delacorte, 1998/VOYA October 1998), Owl in Love (Houghton, 1993/VOYA December 1993), and Speak (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999/VOYA December 1999). Whether the YA reluctant reader will want to make the leap to the 240 subtle and complex pages of Kit's Wilderness (Delacorte, 2000/VOYA December 2000) is a question that the authors do not address. Suggested Web sites and magazines with teen appeal and author, title, and subject indexes add greatly to this book's value for the busy professional. Index. Appendix. 2002, Libraries Unlimited, 230p. PLB Hansen

VOYA

A ready reference for teachers, tutors, and librarians working with students who have poor reading skills and need materials that will "induce a reluctant reader to venture into a book." The first section, "High/Low Books and Web Sites: A Core Collection," contains book titles and URLs in subject categories such as fiction, subdivided by genre; biography and memoirs; health and fitness; history; science; and sports. Each entry includes reading level, interest level, and Accelerated Reader or Scholastic Counts indication, followed by content description. There is no indication of how the reading levels were determined. Many of the titles are from small or lesser-known publishers. The well-chosen Web sites will appeal to teens and are often links from long-standing organizations such as National Geographic, Discovery, and PBS. Part two, "Young Adult Materials for the Reluctant Reader," lists more recognizable fiction and nonfiction titles of interest to most teens, regardless of reading ability. A section of magazine titles gives a description and helpful ordering information. The appendixes consist of a publishers' list and "Resources on the Web," which includes hoax sites, Web quests, and key pals. There are plenty of up-to-date entries, all of the Web sites are new to this edition, and graphic novels have been added.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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