Best Books for Middle School and Junior High Readers: Grades 6-9, 2nd Edition (Children's and Young Adult Literature Reference Series) »

CATHERINE BARR is editor of the Libraries Unlimited Children's and Young Adult Literature Reference series and author/coauthor of numerous guides to children's and young adult literature, including Best Books for Children, A to Zoo , Popular Series Fiction, High-Low Handbook, and From Biography to History.

JOHN T. GILLESPIE, former Dean and Instructor of Library Science, Long Island University, New York, has authored numerous books in the areas of library management, school libraries, and children's and young adult literature.

This indispensable reading guide and selection tool, updated to include titles published from 2004 through 2008, covers the best fiction and nonfiction for children in grades 6-9. The approximately 15,000 entries include brief but lively annotations, ISBNs, book length and price, grade-level appropriateness, and review citations. New features include indication of titles available in audio format and Lexiles where available. Award-winning and series titles are noted. Use this must-purchase volume to bolster your collection for young teens and to create thematic and curriculum-oriented reading lists. Grades 6-9.

VOYA

In these latest editions of the Best Books series, Barr and Gillespie maintain an excellent balance of quality, trends, and curricular emphases while demonstrating a keen sensitivity to young readers and the time restraints of the professionals who serve them. Each title included—-14,588 in the middle school and junior high volume and 12,788 in the high school volume—-offers two positive reviews with the exception of some entries in nonfiction series and adult selections suitable for young adults that receive restricted space from journals. All volumes incorporated were in print at the end of October 2008. The series goal is to help maintain and expand library collections, guide young adult reading, and prepare bibliographies and reading lists. The organization of books under broad areas of interest or curriculum topics and the author, title, and subject/grade level indexes facilitate those tasks, especially when the two volumes share entries that might appeal to both lower and upper level readers. The table of contents arranges subjects first by order of appearance and then by alphabet. A symbol indicates available audio versions as well. An F designation distinguishes fiction from nonfiction. Graphic novels are contained in one section under "Literary Forms." Journal abbreviations allow the researcher to locate full reviews of the selections if desired. The authors suggest sources (print and online) for more lists of extensive series titles or works of more prolific authors, and annotations indicate selections suitable for mature readers because of graphic sex or violence. Because it includes both contemporary and classic works, the series is a great foundation for youngadult librarians and teacher training programs. Reviewer: Lucy Schall