Let's Talk About It! 1999-2000 Themes & Books

Three new themes were developed in 1999-2000, along with a revision of one of the most popular original
Let's Talk About It themes. Each series includes a thematic essay by a nationally known scholar and introductory materials on five works, along with selections for additional reading.

A limited quantity of reading discussion guides and posters for these series are available. Please click
here for a complete list of products and to access the order form. To order the books below, please use the ISBN numbers listed to place an order with your favorite jobber. Estimated retail prices are below.

End of the World or World Without End: Readings for the Millennium

By Hillel Schwartz


As we anticipate the millennium with a mixture of fear and hope, this series includes readings ranging from science fiction to fantasy and poetry.

  • Looking Backward: 2000-1887, Edward Bellamy, ISBN #045-152-7631, $5.95
  • The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, Ursula K. Le Guin, ISBN #006-105-4887, $7.99
  • Blessed Assurance: At Home with the Bomb in Amarillo, Texas, A. G. Mojtabai, ISBN #081-560-5080, $19.95
  • Fiskadoro, Denis Johnson, ISBN #006-097-6098, $13.00
  • American Poets Say Goodbye to the 20th Century, Andrei Codrescu and Laura Rosenthal, eds., IBSN #156-858-0681, $18.00

Long Gone: The Literature and Culture of African American Migration

By Valerie Smith


The migration experience from Africa to America, from south to north, from rural to urban is a powerful and recurring theme in twentieth-century literature.

  • If He Hollers Let Him Go, Chester Himes, ISBN #156-025-4459, $13.95
  • The Street, Ann Petry, IBSN #039-590-1499, $10.80
  • Praisesong for the Widow, Paule Marshall, ISBN #045-226-7110, $11.65
  • Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley, ISBN #067-101-9821, $12.60
  • Blue as the Lake, Robert B. Stepto, ISBN #080-700-9458, $14.00

Not for Children Only: Classic Children's Literature for Adults

By Elizabeth Baer


This series offers new and old classics of children's literature, along with a brief history of how writing for children has evolved over time.

  • The Classic Fairy Tales, Iona and Peter Opie, ISBN #019-520-2198, $15.25
  • Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, ISBN #055-321-2753, $3.95
  • The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett, ISBN #014-036-6660, $4.99
  • Charlotte's Web, E. B. White, and
    Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson, ISBN #006-440-0557, $6.99
  • Dragonwings, Laurence Yep, ISBN #006-440-0859, $6.99
  • The Giver, Lois Lowry, ISBN #044-021-9078, $6.50

One Vision, Many Voices: Latino Literature in the U.S.

By Ilan Stavans


This series explores the diversity within the writings of those whose linguistic and cultural heritage stems from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and other Spanish-speaking Central and South American countries.

  • In the Time of Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, ISBN #045-227-4427, $11.65
  • The Devil in Texas, Aristeo Brito, ISBN #092-753-4061, Out of Stock
  • Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina García, ISBN #034-538-1432, $12.60
  • Down These Mean Streets, Piri Thomas, ISBN #067-978-1420, $10.80
  • Growing Up Latino, Harold Augenbraum and Ilan Stavans, eds., ISBN #039-566-1242, $13.50