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Given the global escalation of gaps between rich and poor, contemporary work in critical literacy needs to overtly question the politics of poverty. How and where is poverty produced, by what means, by whom and for whom and how are educational systems stratified to provide different kinds of education to the rich and the poor? Yet rather than critical literacy, international educational reform movements stress performative standards on basic literacy. In this context literacy researchers need to ask policy-makers hard questions about taken-for-granted rhetoric that surrounds poverty, literacy and education. At school, regional and state levels, educational leaders need to argue for fair resourcing and decision-making for their communities and students. In classrooms teachers need to weave critical questioning and inclusive learning interactions into the fabric of everyday life.

Looks at literature that deals with the experiences of adolescents who are seen by their peers to be living on the fringe of dominant adolescent culture. Presents reviews written by a group of university students enrolled in a children's literature course at American University's School of Education in Washington. (SG)

Reflects on the value of supplementing the reading of print fiction with the viewing of film and video in the English curriculum. Discusses intertextuality, media convergence, and multiliteracies. Notes use of the film "The Matrix" to bridge popular and classroom cultures. Explores the use of popular cultural texts in the contemporary climate of convergence and new technologies. (SG)

Explores fiction for adolescents and young adults published by Longacre Press, New Zealand, a small independent publishing house founded in 1994. Notes teenage fiction is a specialist area of this publisher although they also publish general nonfiction, historical, and art books. Discusses works published in the themes of clashes and coping, journeys, love and relationships, compelling characters, and changes and self-discovery. (RS)

Notes that while many adults seem to be rejoicing in the fact that the Harry Potter books have brought the pleasures of book reading to a new generation of young readers, Harry Potter is also entering the realm of popular media culture. Discusses and analyses the effect Harry Potter books have on children and on society. (SG)

Outlines the rise of "young adult" books, and discusses issues related to the appropriateness of books for adolescents. Discusses and reviews 10 books for adolescents and young adults. Notes briefly three books for teachers with ideas for improving the reading and writing skills of students in various content areas. (SR)

Offers an overview of what is "hot" in fiction for young Australians currently (year 2000) from the point of view of an Australian educator with a long history in children's literature. Introduces contemporary key authors and emergent trends. Describes briefly 26 recent popular Australian books of young adult fiction. (SR)

Outlines the authors' ideas on reviewing books for young adults. Discusses including multiple reviews of the same texts, "internationalizing" texts for review and reviewers and opening up the objects of reviews to multimedia texts and formats. Offers eight brief reviews of a single book (William Taylor's "Jerome") for young readers, which opens up the subjects of youth suicide and homosexuality. (SR)

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This department explores critical perspectives on issues at the intersection of policy and practice in order to generate fresh questions about enduring dilemmas, new challenges, and debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The books reviewed in this column are recent young adult fiction. The reviewers span a range of ages and locations, but each reviewer's enthusiasm for the texts is clear. Book [...]

While many adults seem to be rejoicing in the fact that the Harry Potter books have brought the pleasures of book reading to a new generation of young readers, Harry [...]

The reach of the Harry Potter phenomenon after the release of J.K. Rowling's fourth book in the series in mid-2000 was recently brought home to us when a father was [...]

We are interested in what makes particular books 'appropriate' or 'attractive' to young adult or adolescent readers and also in what adults and young people make of books written and [...]

For this month's column we invited Greg Hurrell, a doctoral student in English education, and Paul Sommer, a senior high school English teacher, to reflect on the value of supplementing [...]

This month we feature a collection of books that represent versions of what it means to 'come of age.' We encouraged reviewers to interrogate the texts by having them consider [...]

The books reviewed in this month's column begin with a collection of texts written in unusual formats. Postcards to Father Abraham by Catherine Lewis is written as a series of [...]

Reviews several fiction books for adolescents and young adults. `Dare Truth or Promise,' by Paula Boock; `I Am Not Esther,' by Fleur Beale; `Love and Other Excuses,' by Jane Westaway; `Lester,' by Bernard Beckett.