Librarians and educators serving teens will love having this title on hand for those days when an insatiable, reluctant or struggling reader walks up and says 'I can't find anything good to read.'. . . Her pre- and post-booktalk advice is excellent, and important to include when planning a booktalk in library, media center, or classroom. . . . Cox-Clark's booktalks are on target in length, teasers, and tone and will help sell these titles to teens. . . . Highly recommended for all YA and teen services librarians and media specialists, middle and high school language arts teachers, and literacy specialists.” —Colorado Association of Libraries
“This tool offers guidelines for sharing booktalks with teens, including suggestions for collaboration with classroom teachers and booktalk techniques. The meat of this book is 75 prepared booktalks of novels suitable for the 9-12 school library. Each of these entries provides complete bibliographic information, subjects addressed, genre, national lists on which the title is found, plot summary, a substantial booktalk with suggested excerpt to read aloud, curriculum connections, and recommendations for similar titles. Finally, this useful reference provides generous indexes for authors, titles, subjects, genres, and curriculum connections. In addition to tantalizing teens with current, recognized literature, media specialists might use this piece for collection development or as a readers' advisory reference. In the author's own observation, thousands of YA titles are published each year, so she has used several book lists as guides to selecting the 75 titles included among these booktalks, suggesting an obvious limitation to the breadth of her guide. This representative cross-section notwithstanding, this book gives the gift of time to high school media specialists, with ready-made annotations and booktalks, and it gives the gift of book selection ease to busy, time-attentive teens. Recommended.” —Library Media Connection
This second installment of booktalks fulfills its self-proclaimed usefulness as a tool for media specialists. The introduction describes the intended audience for the books suggested and explains the format. One section discusses various booktalking techniques and methods that can be used to present the books. Each entry includes useful information such as subject, genre, and the suggested audience associated with the book. A brief annotation, a script for the booktalk, and page references for an excerpt add to the depth of information. Curriculum connections complete with possible research projects are also included. Finally, each book is complemented by five similar titles with bibliographic information, making this a resource with more than 425 titles. The majority of the 75 entry titles were published after 2003, making this an excellent source for current young adult materials. While the quality of the booktalks varies, all of the entries provide a valuable starting point for discussing any of the selections. Whether booktalking is a goal or an ongoing endeavor, this title will provide a wealth of possibilities for promoting teen reading.
—Lynn RashidCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
