Books published by publisher Scarecrow Press

Adolescence is a time of growth, change, and confusion for young women. During this transition from childhood to adulthood, sex and gender roles become more important. Meanwhile, depictions of females―from the hyper-sexualized girls of music videos to the chaste repression of Purity Balls―send mixed messages to young women about their bodies and their sexuality. Over the last several decades, authors of young adult novels have been challenged to reflect this concern in their work and have responded with varying degrees of success.In Learning Curves: Body Image and Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature, Beth Younger examines how cultural assumptions and social constraints are reinforced and complicated through common representations of young women. Each chapter analyzes a recurrent theme in the history of young adult literature, including issues of body image, pregnancy, abortion, lesbianism, and romance. By examining selected novels for their sexual content, situating them within their social and historical context, and analyzing their discursive qualities, the author reveals the multitude of complex ways that society depicts teenagers and their sexualities and offers a critique of patriarchal culture that gives value to the female experience.

New in paperback! This book comes at a time when opera-lovers, singers, directors, and critics alike are taking a new look at the dramatic soprano heroines created by Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, endeavoring to delve beyond inherited scholarly interpretation and gain a richer understanding of these compelling female characters. Artistically limited by the bel canto musical tradition popular at the time, Verdi launched a new style dramma per musica which also demanded a new soprano archetype. This book illustrates the musical evolution of the Verdi and Puccini soprano while illuminating the dramatic scope and power of these great heroines. Avoiding critical reductionism, Verdi and Puccini Heroines provides an unprecedented and probing discussion of how these great soprano roles were conceived and executed. Accordingly, the authors take a three-dimensional look at these heroines, examining seven operas: Il Trovatore, La Forza del Destino, Aida, La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. The chapters, which are fully self-contained analyses, contain translations, illustrative musical examples, supplementary notes, and references to each opera's literary sources. The musical analysis, while thorough, is descriptive and accessible to all levels of readers.

Volunteering: The Ultimate Teen Guide is a wonderful resource for teens on how they can use their time and energy to positively impact society and gain personal satisfaction. Teens get a complete picture of what volunteering involves, including the personal commitment and the physical and emotional stamina, as well as the positive-and sometimes negative-consequences. Filled with inspiring and rewarding stories from teen volunteers who testify to the immense personal satisfaction that resulted from their volunteer efforts.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder strikes one in fifty adults. However, the disorder often remains untreated in young adults, despite advances in diagnostics. Though so many people suffer from OCD, very few seek professional help. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Ultimate Teen Guide helps teens understand OCD in greater detail. The guide explains different forms of OCD (checking, cleaning, scrupulosity) and related disorders (such as Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder, Tourette's Syndrome, and Asperger's Disorder).Author Natalie Rompella voices many common concerns teens have when confronted with OCD, including how to deal with school, work, and friends. The book also discusses uncomfortable topics, such as obsessions with sexuality and other unwanted thoughts. The book features insights from teens who suffer from OCD, letting others know they are not alone. The book also encourages teens to seek help through treatment and provides details of different treatment options.

There are a variety of reasons young people turn to drugs, and the impact of such behavior can often be devastating. Whether alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy, or the latest drug of choice, substance abuse among teens continues to be a concern. This disorder affects so many people in one way or another, not only the addicted individual but also his or her family members and friends. In Substance Abuse: The Ultimate Teen Guide, Sheri Mabry Bestor looks at the various reasons why young people experiment with drugs and alcohol—and the consequences of doing so. Written to help young adults and those close to them understand substance abuse disorder, this book is full of important and practical information from various experts. In addition to facts, statistics, and advice, this book also provides insights from real people—teen addicts and others—who have been affected by substance abuse. Topics covered in this book include:exposure to alcohol and drugs reasons people experiment with addictive substancesphysical and emotional aspects of addictiontreatment optionsrelapsesrecovery The chapters in this book take readers through the process of substance use to substance abuse, from curiosity and experimentation to full-blown addiction and recovery. The chapters feature not only true life stories, but also contain information about how substance abuse affects the body and brain. Appendixes include a list of resources, including web sites, books, and movies that teens will find useful. Designed to give teens the tools for understanding this disorder from various perspectives, this book is a valuable resource for anyone affected by substance abuse.

Cancer hits hard at any age, but it is especially challenging for teens who must battle their disease while negotiating the tricky terrain of adolescence. This book explores the range of challenges cancer places on both teens who have cancer and teens who have friends or family members with cancer. Denise Thornton follows cancer's devastating path through a teen's life from diagnosis to treatment and survivorship, with special attention to how cancer can affect relations with friends and family, and its impact on school life. Living with Cancer explores the toll cancer can take on self image and looks at how teens facing cancer have found a sense of balance and control. Each chapter takes advantage of expert knowledge and new information that is continually coming to light, but the bulk of the book is made up of narratives shared by teens whose lives have been changed by cancer. This book will prove immensely useful for teens who are facing cancer, as well as friends and family members who want to understand and support them.

A self-help guide for youth, Juvenile Arthritis: The Ultimate Teen Guide is also useful to family members, friends, and caregivers of those suffering from the disease. Author Kelly Rouba has prepared a truly comprehensive resource without making it overwhelming, in order to help those who have the disease lead the best life possible. As someone diagnosed with a severe form of juvenile arthritis at the age of two, Rouba is very familiar with how difficult—physically and emotionally—it can be to live with this chronic illness. Readers get an overview of juvenile arthritis from the point of view of teenagers and their parents, and the book also includes discussions related to diagnosis, symptoms of the disease, its history, and various related conditions. Treatment options are also provided, as well as tips on how to adapt to life with the disease including exercise, diet and therapy. A list of applicable Web sites and other helpful resources is included at the end of most chapters.

Adolescence is a time of growth, change, and confusion for young women. During this transition from childhood to adulthood, sex and gender roles become more important. Meanwhile, depictions of females―from the hyper-sexualized girls of music videos to the chaste repression of Purity Balls―send mixed messages to young women about their bodies and their sexuality. Over the last several decades, authors of young adult novels have been challenged to reflect this concern in their work and have responded with varying degrees of success.In Learning Curves: Body Image and Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature, Beth Younger examines how cultural assumptions and social constraints are reinforced and complicated through common representations of young women. Each chapter analyzes a recurrent theme in the history of young adult literature, including issues of body image, pregnancy, abortion, lesbianism, and romance. By examining selected novels for their sexual content, situating them within their social and historical context, and analyzing their discursive qualities, the author reveals the multitude of complex ways that society depicts teenagers and their sexualities and offers a critique of patriarchal culture that gives value to the female experience.

Teens, Loss, and Grief is a self-help guide for teenagers who are struggling with bereavement and the emotional difficulties it presents. This book provides an overview of grief as a painful but normal process, offering insights from bereavement experts as well as practical suggestions for coping with loss, including accounts from teens. This book closes a gap in the available literature on grief and bereavement that has tended to focus on adults and younger children. It provides a warm, accessible resource that will reassure teen readers about the normality of grief, encourages their understanding of what happens during the grief process, and provides an indispensable resource guide.

When Stephenie Meyer’s first novel, Twilight, was published in 2005, it had an astounding reception, selling millions of copies. The three sequels that followed—New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn—became international bestsellers as well. The worldwide success of the movie adaptations further cemented the series as a cultural force on par with other popular franchises such as Harry Potter. But why is this? What is it about Twilight that makes it so appealing to people? And what does Twilight’s success reveal about transnational cultural trends? In The Twilight Saga: Exploring the Global Phenomenon, Claudia Bucciferro has assembled a collection of essays that examine the series from a variety of perspectives. The essays in this volume consider both the books and the movies, emphasizing the relationships among the texts, the audience, the entertainment industry, and other aspects of the multimillion-dollar franchise. Organized into five sections, the chapters offer a contextualization of the series’ appeal, explore different types of Twilight audiences, analyze the cultural referents associated with the main characters, and present new ideas regarding representations of gender, sex, class, and race. Concluding essays examine the saga’s influence, unveiling its links to newer works such as The Hunger Games, True Blood, and Fifty Shades of Grey.Making sense of how the popular franchise fits within larger contexts, this collection addresses Twilight from an interdisciplinary framework, including insights from history, philosophy, literature, sociology, fan studies, intercultural communication, film studies, and more. Featuring contributions by scholars from the United States, France, Spain, Chile, and Australia, this book emphasizes the international and intercultural relevance of the Twilight phenomenon. The collection is aimed at scholars and students of media and popular culture, but it will also appeal to general readers who are familiar with the series.

This is a one-of-a-kind book that addresses the issue of what it's like to be involved with an organ transplant procedure. It's filled with real-life stories of teens whose parents, siblings, or other family members are transplant recipients as well as teens who have had transplants themselves and includes stories of recipients who have received heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, and double-lung transplants.This book describes the physical and emotional ups and downs that are part of the transplant process. It addresses, from both the recipient's and family's point of view, what it feels like to be placed on the transplant list, to wait for an organ, to receive "false alarm" calls to come to the transplant center, to finally undergo the transplant operation, to recover, to deal with setbacks of surgery and organ rejection, and to live on anti-rejection drugs the rest of one's life. Also detailed are the medical, financial, mental, and other preparations that must be undertaken as part of the transplant process. Guidance on what to expect, how to help, where to seek assistance, and how to support the patient is also given. Answers to the tough practical and emotional questions that teens have about an organ transplant, such as will my parent survive the surgery, how long will it take for my parent to recover, and why is this happening to me are discussed? Numerous question-and-answer sections of frequently asked questions about organ transplants and the myths that surround them are included, as well as contact information for organizations that provide many forms of assistance for recipients and their families.Through all the serious issues, however, this book offers much hope and promise for recipients and their families through the stories of those whose lives have been greatly improved through an organ transplant. This is the ideal resource for all readers who are interested in the subject of organ donation and transplant, including those who are facing a transplant and their family members as well a

Richard Bare is primarily known as the sole director of the television series Green Acres, but his Hollywood career spanned over 40 years, starting with his USC student film, So You Want to Give Up Smoking, which resulted in a long-term contract at Warner Bros. He has directed over a dozen feature films and over 400 television shows, including Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Virginian, and the Twilight Zone. Follow Bare through his many years in the film industry, which brought him into contact with Hollywood's biggest stars, like Gary Cooper, Betty Hutton, Debbie Reynolds, Eva Gabor, Eddie Albert, and Charlie Chaplin, as well as producers Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Walt Disney. Bare opens with a gripping story of how he and the crew of MGM's The Islanders almost lost their lives in a devastating plane crash in the Caribbean Sea. Includes filmography.