Adolescents in the Search for Meaning: Tapping the Powerful Resource of Story
Warner argues that adolescent literature can act as a means of support for young people as they face what she calls the major issues of teen life. This is not a new argument, but she goes further with her claim as she attempts to solicit information from young people about the issues they face and connect these findings with similarly themed fiction. While this subject-related correspondence seems to be the primary criteria she uses for recommending powerful literature for teens, she also draws from the literary recommendations of teens themselves.  According to Warner's findings, teens look first to parents, siblings, grandparents, or relatives, then to friends and peers. Very few report seeking guidance from books, journaling, or magazines. Roughly 50 percent of her respondents report that no book has helped them. In spite of this disheartening response, the author takes pains to include teens' own recommendations within the second half of her book, which annotates titles by category. While the bibliographic component does, to some degree, reinvent the wheel, Warner's research findings could inform and direct youth services librarians and teachers.–Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, BostonCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.