Sherry York

York, an acquisitions and content editor for Linworth has put together a group of booktalks of what she terms “authentic” multicultural liteature. Our immediate problem with her selections is that she does not define clearly nor does she list selection criteria for what she includes. In her introduction, York recognizes that no one person can claim to represent an entire culture because the can only represent their own spetrum of experience. However, looking through the list and reading the booktalks, one presumes that authentic here means an author who is writing about the culture of that author. York needs to be much more explicate in developing her criteria. Each book recommended has a brief statement about the the author, the intended grade level and subject headings of the book. York then presents a short descriptive statement about the book with a question at the end. The booktalks are introductions for the teacher librarian more than they are actual booktalks to be used with teens. Follow York’s advice: if you find a title in this collection that might work, then read the title and then use her introduction to stimulate a real booktalk with your own set of teens. There are 100 booktalks here; the book is pricey; but it does cover a range of cultures and the title does convey the coverage of topics. Recommended with reservations.… (més)