Never before have so many beauty corporations delivered so many messages offering so many unattainable ideals-- so often aimed at kids. Filled with photos and cartoons, all in a lively, engaging format, In Your Face is a great low-cost text for middle and high school, teaching kids to look critically at the culture of beauty, present and past. As a stand-alone text or combined with videos like the Body Talk series or Picture Perfect, the book helps teens face up to the beauty industry's relentless hype. A must for parents, for social studies and health classes, and for community and religious youth groups.

Recommended for Middle and High School, and Afterschool programs as well as,
Stereotyping & Representation
Health / Prevention
Life Skills

Critics are calling Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Starr's The Creation of The Media 'daring and dazzling' and 'fascinating and illuminating.' Tracing the history of modern American communications from printing to radio, he shows how critical choices about freedom of expression, media ownership, architecture of networks, secrecy, privacy, and intellectual property have made the modern media as much a political as a technological invention. A great background resource for high school and college social studies, technology, and media classes.

Recommended for Teacher Background and College as well as,
History of Media

Social Studies
News, Politics, and Democracy

You can't teach language or literature without discussing comedy and satire. And what better way to illustrate key concepts than with Made You Laugh: The Funniest Moments in Radio, Television, Standup and Movies, a new book/DVD package from Joe Garner's Sourcebooks collection. It combines classic clips from Mack Sennett and Charlie Chaplin to Saturday Night Live and Chris Rock, with interviews and first-hand anecdotes from the comedians, writers, and producers who have entertained us for nearly a hundred years. The DVD features 3 hours of comedy clips from all the areas covered, and is hosted by Carl and Rob Reiner: the accompanying book is rich in profiles, timelines and comedic techniques. A unique primary resource for the middle, high school, and college language arts classrooms.

Recommended for Middle and High School, College, and General Audiences as well as,
English / Language Arts

Art/Media Arts
Television and Popular Culture

1953: Lucille Ball is not allowed to say the word 'pregnant' on I Love Lucy -- too risqué. 1998: 15-year-old Pacey begins a torrid affair with his high school English teacher on Dawson's Creek-- to monster ratings. What happened to American media in the intervening 45 years? In Sex Sells! The Media's Journey from Repression to Obsession, author Rodger Streitmatter explores the development of sexual mores in American media culture, with a twist! Instead of censure or disapproval, he argues that the sexual revolution in media offers parents and teachers opportunities a way to broach tough topics like AIDS, sexual identity, and appropriate sexual behavior. This accessible book is a must for parents and an excellent resource for teachers of health, social studies, media or cultural studies. Filled with excellent illustrations.

Recommended for High School, College, and General Audiences as well as,
Television and Popular Culture
Social Studies
Art/Media Arts
History of Media
Health / Prevention

A cornerstone of media literacy is visual literacy, understanding images and how they are constructed. But many media literacy teachers find themselves without the art background to know how to help students explore visual culture or to involve them in production projects that allow them to express their creativity and point of view. But not to worry -- Visual Arts as a Way of Knowing offers a fun and practical short course in basic art elements from "The Language of Lines" to "Creating Visual Textures" to "Color and Principles of Design." Filled with illustrations and projects to practice different visual techniques, it's a terrific "idea book" to support media literacy teachers in planning and facilitating arts projects, including strategies for assessment. Highly recommended for all K-12 media literacy teachers, especially those who never had an arts methods course.

Recommended for Teacher Inservice as well as,
Visual Literacy
Art/Media Arts

Great Films and How to Teach Them updates author William Costanzo's best-selling Reading The Movies, with 80% new material. Nine accessible, educational chapters on how to read the movies are followed by 23 chapters, each covering a single movie, offering summaries, comments, and an excellent short study guide. Some films covered include Casablanca, North by Northwest, Schindler's List, The Matrix, Bend It Like Beckham. Three appendices and a glossary of film terms round out the book's many teacher resources. A must-have for middle, high school, and college language arts teachers.

Recommended for Middle and High School, and Teacher Prep as well as,
Visual Literacy
English / Language Arts
Film Study / Movie Making
Art/Media Arts