The Best Years of Their Lives: A Resource Guide for Teenagers in Crisis.

Today's teens reach adulthood via an obstacle course that features record-breaking suicide rates, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, drug addiction, ill-health and an unclear employment future. The high school drop-out rate is astronomical. Professionals have responded to this situation in a number of ways. Medical professionals have recognized the need for and developed classes on teen stress and adolescent pregnancy. Social scientists and educators have implemented parenting units and courses, contributing to the "wellness" curriculum. And the publishing industry is beginning to produce more nonfiction, self-help titles for adolescents. This bibliography is a guide to the print and nonprint adolescent self-help genre that has blossomed within the last five years.

Any teacher, librarian or professional involved with adolescents will find this guide useful. Material selectors in libraries and teen program developers will find it a boon. The titles in this guide will offer adolescents, ages 12 to 18, a better understanding of what growing up in today's world entails. The guide is composed of nine chapters that cover issues such as death, sex, drugs, family relations, self-esteem and puberty. Nonfiction and fiction materials are annotated with both descriptive and valuative comments, including plot summaries for fiction pieces. Profiles or interviews of authors are interspersed throughout, giving added depth.

Much of the material in this guide is directed at the motivated, middle-class young adult assumed to be facing a crisis. Since the topics (sexuality, drug use, stress, peer pressure, etc.) are of concern to most teens, however, the materials have broad appeal and application. Materials for specific audiences, such as disabled, Jewish, Hispanic or African American teenagers, are not evaluated here. According to the author, this material is most often available from small presses, which are difficult to track, or trade publishers who aim their materials at the classroom teacher.

An appendix lists the best recent videos that address topics of concern to teens. These expensive videos, suitable for home or school viewing, might be purchased by consortia and school or library systems. Most videos correlate to specific chapters of the book and focus on one topic. Two series, "Degrassi High" and "Wednesday's Children," cover a wide range of concerns. The compiler has provided VHS rental prices and addresses for commercial distributors.

Both the main author and the compiler of the video appendix are professional librarians and have been on the staff of Booklist for many years. They have put together a worthwhile, readable and well-developed tool that will be of service in a number of diverse situations. Reviewed by Charlene Snelling, Chicago State University