Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Literary Newsmakers for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Newsmaking, Novels, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Edited by Ann Marie Hacht. Detroit, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2006. 1 vol. 407 p. $100.00. ISBN-10: 1-4144-0282-1; ISBN-13: 978-1-4144-0282-6.

This book will serve students well in two areas. First, it is an overview of 18 books that people have been talking about in recent years. It also provides an example of a very thorough way students might report on books they have read. Each entry provides an introduction to the work and information about its publication, an author biography and a plot summary. Characters are listed with an explanation of the character's role and the relationship to other characters. The analysis of important themes is followed by an examination of style elements and important historical and cultural events that may have influenced both the author and the work. A short literacy chronology lists the birth dates of many of the authors and the date of publication of their work. Inset boxes provide information about media adaptations, suggestions for "Topics for Further Study" and "What Do I Read Next?" A critical overview discusses what is said about the book and a criticism may take the form of an essay by a critic. Additional information includes essays or excerpts. Photographs of some authors are provided and a few additional black and white pictures illustrate the text. The appendix includes a 26-page glossary, a 1-page author/title index, a 1-page nationality/ethnicity index and a 3-page subject/thematic index. If your literature teachers teach any of the titles to be analyzed by students, you will need to help them with what to expect for their final papers or they may want you to hide this in the backroom.