Does anyone have the time and the resources to read hundreds of new books to help their children make reading choices? Schall has separated the wheat from the chaff, then provided one-minute summaries that will allow parents to select books rapidly and efficiently that they may then read with their children. What teacher has the time and expertise to develop lesson plans without consulting a similarly concerned professional? For teachers and for home-schoolers as well, Schall has provided discussion points, suggested educational activities, and research bibliographies. * Schall, a recently retired high-school educator, has done parents, teachers and librarians a great service with this book. From a critical study of recent American and Canadian books for young adults from twelve to eighteen, Schall has selected over 100 of the best for Booktalks Plus: Motivating Teens to Read. Her topics are remarkably diverse and reflect concerns that youth will find compelling and adults will find worthwhile. Poetry, piracy, pi, body image, Native America, war and religions are a few of five hundred well-indexed themes. Biographical studies are also notably broad in scope, including, for examples, John Brown, Michelle Kwan, C. S. Lewis, Martha Graham and Thomas Jefferson. Schall's collection is thoughtfully grouped into related themes that are thoroughly cross-referenced and supplemented by a topical index. * For each book, Schall has provided a 200 word summary that facilitates the selection of young adult literature. She has also presented "Booktalk" talking points to motivate discussion of each work, a list of a half-dozen related exploratory writing and research activities for students, and a bibliography of related works in books and video for further research. This is a wonderful resource.

Eric Palmer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Allegheny College