Category: ALAN Review

Cannibals: Starring Tiffany Spratt, The Callery, Eileen The Cannibals: Starring Tiffany Spratt by Cynthia D. Grant Teen Problems/Humor Roaring Brook Press, 2002, 148 pp., $ ISBN: 0-7613-2759-2 Tiffany Spratt, head of the cheerleading group called the Cannibals, is into celebrities, glamour, and little else. In her journal, Tiffany recounts the events of her senior year […]

Young Adult Literature: Rite of Passage or Rite of Its Own Proukou, Katherine Kim “I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: ‘All right, then, I’ll go to hell’ and tore it up” -The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1339. “My name is Jerry Renault and I am […]

Maid Marian Made Possible: Feminist Advances in Late Twentieth-century Retellings of the Robin Hood Legend for Young Adults Perry, Evelyn M Both Robin McKinley and Esther Friesner, contemporary retellers of the Robin Hood legend, refer to Howard Pyle’s The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood as their first significant introduction to the legend. Pyle’s text retells […]

Opening Dialogue amidst Conflict: Utilizing Young Adult Literature in the Classroom to Combat Bullying Metzger, Kenan He stepped so close that Darrell could smell his breath, a sickening mixture of onions and cigarette smoke. “What’s your name, kid?” he asked. “I’m Darrell. . . Mercer. ” “Darrell. . . Mercer,” the boy repeated with a […]

“Meant to Be Huge”: Obesity and Body Image in Young Adult Novels Quick, Catherine S In her 1998 ALAN Review article, “The Portrayal of Obese Adolescents,” Rachel Beineke presents a moving account of her own struggles with obesity as an adolescent and decries the lack of young adult literature that mirrored her experience in a […]

Little Secrets-Playing with Fire Clark, Paulette Little secrets-Playing with Fire by Emily Blake Friendship Scholastic, 2006, 149 pp., $8.99 ISBN: 0-439-81053-1 Alison Rose struggles with the embarrassment of her rich, strong mother being incarcerated and losing her boyfriend to her best friend, her cousin Kelly. At the beginning the reader wonders if Alison’s mother is […]

Are You Living in the Real World? Clement-Davies, David Adapted from a university lecture given on a book tour of the United States. I snatched the theme for this talk from a flier I saw in London at a children’s Book circle called “Are we living in the real world? An exploration of fantasy in […]

Interviewing the Interviewer: Talking with Robert Lipsyte Goering, Chris Intimidating. As a sportswriter, Robert Lipsyte covered beats ranging from NASCAR to high school football for The New York Times. His 40-year career has taken him into the locker rooms of professional athletes, out to dinner with coaches, and behind the scenes of the American sports […]

Under a Stand Still Moon Jacob, John Under a Stand Still Moon by Ann Howard Creel Brown Barn Books, 2005, 192 pp., $8.95 Coming of Age/Anasazi Indians ISBN: 978-0-9746481-8-3 Echo, an Anasazi Indian girl, grows up during the dissolution of the Anasazi civilization. She lives a carefree life until she is 12, when she catches […]

Victory Young, Karolinde Victory by Susan Cooper Historical Fiction Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2006,196 pp., $16.95 ISBN: 1-4169-1477-3 Sam Robinson is young sailor aboard the H.M.S. Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Molly Jennings, an English girl, is forced to move to Connecticut when her mother marries a “Yank.” When Molly […]