Abstract
Nonfiction for young adults is enjoying a rebirth of interest among publishers, librarians, and teachers with the emergence of an approach that uses facts as information to be shared with children trying to make sense of their world. Reading interest studies disclose patterns in young readers' preferences in nonfiction. Suggestions are offered to encourage the reading of nonfiction, to help teachers use these books effectively in classroom discussion, and to help select nonfiction for reading aloud.
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Books Mentioned
Air War Against Hitler's Germany. New York: American Heritage Publishing Company, 1964.
Ames, Lee J.Draw 50 Airplanes, Aircraft and Spacecraft. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1977.
—Draw 50 Cats. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1986.
—Draw 50 Dinosaurs & Other Prehistoric Animals. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1977.
—Draw 50 Dogs. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1981.
—Draw 50 Famous Faces. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1978.
Anderton, David A.American Fighters of World War II. New York: Crescent Books, 1982.
Arnosky, Jim,Drawing from Nature, New York: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1982.
Ballard, Robert D.Exploring the Titanic. New York: Scholastic, 1988.
Bolognese, DonDrawing Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals. New York: Franklin Watts, 1982.
—Drawing Horses & Foals. New York: Franklin Watts, 1977.
—Drawing Spaceships and Other Spacecraft. New York: Franklin Watts, 1982.
Bunting, Eve.The Sea World Book of Whales, San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989.
Callahan, Steven.Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
Carr, Archie,The Reptiles: Young Readers' Edition, New York: Time-Life, 1967.
Delear, Frank J.Airplanes and Helicopters of the U.S. Navy. New York: Dodd Mead and Company, 1982.
Edelman, Bernard, Ed.Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam, New York: Norton, 1985.
Ferris, T.Spaceshots: The Beauty of Nature Beyond Earth. New York: Pantheon, 1987.
Frame, Paul.Drawing Cats and Kittens. New York: Franklin Watts, 1979.
—Drawing Sharks, Whales, Dolphins, and Seals, New York: Franklin Watts, 1983.
Fulghum, Robert,Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door. New York: Villard Books, 1991.
Greene, Marilyn and Gary Provost.Finder: The True Story of a Private Investigator. New York: Crown, 1988.
The Guinness Book of World Records. New York: Sterling Publishing, 1984.
Lauber, Patricia,Journey to the Planets. New York: Crown, 1982.
Lederer, Richard.Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language. New York: Bantam, 1989.
Mazer, Harry.The Last Mission. New York: Delacorte, 1979.
Meltzer, Milton.Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.
Paulsen, Gary,Hatchet. New York: Bradbury, 1987.
Rogasky, Barbara.Smoke and Ashes: The Story of the Holocaust. New York: Holiday, 1988.
Savitt, Sam.Draw Horses With Sam Savitt. New York: Viking, 1981.
Schwartz, Alvin,Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1981.
—Unriddling. New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1983.
—,More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1984.
—.Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones, New York: Harper Collins, 1991.
Weiss, Harvey.Model Airplanes and How To Build Them, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1975.
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He has been president of the National Council of Teachers of English Assembly on Adolescent Literature. He and Betty Carter edited the 1988 edition ofBooks for You: A Senior High Booklist for NCTE, and the two also publishedNonfiction for Young Adults: From Delight to Wisdom from Oryx Press. Address for correspondence: Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204.
Betty Carter, a former junior high reading teacher and school librarian, is now an assistant professor at Texas Woman's University in the School of Library and Information Studies, where she teaches classes in young adult and children's literature. She has chaired the American Library Association's Best Books for Young Adults Committee and is president-elect of NCTE's Assembly on Adolescent Literature.
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Abrahamson, R.F., Carter, B. What we know about nonfiction and young adult readers and what we need to do about it. Publishing Research Quarterly 8, 41–54 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02680520
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02680520