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The following are the results of my post requesting good, appropriate
magazines for grades 6-8 which would actually be read.  I specifically
asked for opinions on Cobblestone, Zillions, Faces, DisneyAdventure,
TeenBeat, Car & Driver, and Road & Track.  Many thanks to all who
replied; your responses helped me make my decisions on my list for next
year. It's so nice to hear from people who have actually used these
magazines with real kids.  (I had also asked about Teen Newsweek.  The
one response on that suggested that it is more for classroom use.)

I subscribe to Consumer Reports at home and the latest issue said that
Zillions, their magazine for kids and money, is being discontinued.

I once subscribed to Cobblestone, a kid's history magazine, and I have
never
had a student look at it. Disney Adventures might be a little young, but
the
content is lively. You will get better input about these two from other
folks, but I thought I'd tell you not to waste your time on the
discontinued
Zillions - it was good - It has/had articles about the best kid cereal
and
games and kid-tested athletic shoes and such. Guess the readership just
wasn't enough to keep it up.

I am familiar with four of the five magazines.  Cobblestone is an
excellent
history magazine.  I cancelled it because it was never used.  The only
way a
kid would use that magazine is if a teacher assigns something from it.
Disney Adventure was checked out a lot, but I did not like the tiny
format.
It is about the size of a TV Guide.  I'm not sure the kids read it, but
they
liked to check it out because of the Disney name.  Zillions is the old
Penny
Power Magazine.  It is about economics.  My son had a subscription and
he
loved it.  I don't think Zillions appeals to a wide audience, but some
kids
like it.  Teen Beat will certainly be checked out.  I don't carry it in
our
library because our dorms have subscriptions to it.  One magazine that
our
students love is Nickelodeon.  I discovered Nickelodeon at the dentist's

office.  This magazine is a nice size with articles that are about the
right
speed for middle schoolers.

 I don't subscribe to any of the magazines you list, but my son gets
Disney Adventures at home (he just finished 7th grade and is a great
reader)
and loves it.  It's been three or four years that he's subscribed.

My school (gr. 7-12) does have Car and Driver and it's very popular with
all
the boys, grade 7 and up.  They also love Peterson's 4-Wheel and Off
Road,
and the hunting magazines--we get Outdoor Life and Field and Stream.

FYI,  Just read in Consumer Reports this month (the issue about
restaurants.. not sure if it was the June or July issue)  that Zillions
will cease publication this summer, to become a web-based magazine.

Car and Driver and Road and track - are very popular with our kids.

Faces is published by Cobblestone and is a biography type magazine.
Each
issue deals with one person, alive or historical.  Excellent information
and
reading level is upper elementary.  Cobblestone itself deals with
history
and each issue concentrates on one topic, such as Lewis and Clark
Expedition.  Well researched and written with resources listed at the
back.
Zillions is Consumer Reports for kids and is appropriate for elem.
through
middle school, I should think.  Does consumer research using kids just
like
the ones reading the magazine.  My son, now 17, got Disney Adventures at

home for years - until about 2 years ago.  He loved it, but I am not
sure he
would have taken it out at school.  I also like the mag but don't
remember a
lot about what was in it.  Have you considered Sports Illustrated for
Kids -
really good sports stuff without the sexual overtones of the adult SI?

I can't imagine
what the students would have done without Skateboarding magazine.

Cobblestone is not used for leisure reading, but is excellent for report

use for American history topics.  So is Calliope, one you did not
mention
- that one is world history.  I dropped faces, which studies current
world
cultures, because I found very little that corresponeded to our
curriculum.  I am not familiar with the other magazines you mentioned -
would be interested in learning about Tean Beat.

Depending on your school, the car magazines might be okay or a little
old.
We get hot rod and NASCAR in our school, and they get pretty heavy
usage.
(Hot Rod used to be a bit of a problem - they had a really scuzzy
swimsuit
issue each year [my aide and I used to "disappear" that issue, something
I
have never done before with any magazine we receive], but they seem to
have discontinued it.

My sixth graders wanted video game magazines so I ordered Nintendo
Power.

I have subscribed to Cobblestones - which covers American History - and
Faces(world cultures) for many years.  We also get Calliope (ancient
world
History), Footsteps (African-American history) and Odyssey (science),
published by the same company, Cobblestones of Peterborough, NH. I keep
all
the back issues and am considering purchasing replacements for some of
the
more popular back issues.  There are a great resource for teachers and
students to use in a variety of ways.

Zillions has just been discontinued.  I take Cobblestone, however the
students don't ever read it.  We use the back issues for research in the

social studies classes.  Some popular ones in my library include:
Baseball
Digest, Football Digest, Hockey Digest, Outdoor Life, Sports Illustrated
for
Kids, Sports Illustrated, Girl's Life, Electronic Gamer, Teen, Teen
People,
Hot Rod, BMX  and Dirt Bike.

 I found Car & Driver to be to far beyond the reach of my middle school
boys to be of much interest to them. I have had great success with Tips
and
Tricks (Nintendo / Playstation tips), Dirt Bike, and Transworld
Skateboarding.
 I'm not personally crazy about any of these, but the boys read them
every
month. DisneyAdventure was never taken off the shelf because the kids
didn't
want to get caught actually reading it.

I dropped Cobblestone - no kid will come within 30 feet of it!!!!!  We
get Zillions and it goes straight to the Life Skills teacher - don't
know
what she does with it....For animals we get Dog Fancy, Cat Fancy,
Horsepower, and Horse Illustrated - they're very popular as are Dirt
Bike,
Dirt Wheels, the ATV magazines and Car and Driver.    We don't get Road
and
TRack.  We're trying Jump for the 8th grade girls and American Girl for
the
5th and 6th grade girls , but I'm guessing that they'll think it's too
young...They all fight over the newest Nintendo Power!!!  Have to keep
the
newest issues under lock and key so they don't just sort of "wander
off".
Oh, they also really like Sports Illustrated, SI for Kids, Outdoor Life,

Field and Stream...you get the picture.

Cobblestone and Faces have excellent articles on history and social
studies, but our students rarely chose to read them except for
assignments.  We do not have print subscriptions now; they are available

through  on-line sources.

Our students like Teen, Seventeen, and Teen People.  Teen People
features many stars students like to read about.  I have found no rock
music magazine which would be appropriate.   I like New Moon, but it is
not as popular with students; students tend to like the ads.  A few
years ago I looked at Teen Beat, but did not subscribe to it.

I was recently notified Zillions has been discontinued.  This
consumer-type magazine was popular for browsing.  Students liked to read

the articles about topics of interest to them.

We get Road and Track, but discontinued Car and Driver.  Our ATV & 3 - 4

Wheel Action and Dirt Wheels  are popular.  The Beckett magazines are
popular, as are hunting and fishing titles.
Students like Cat Fancy and Dog Fancy.

I subscribe to Cobblestone, Faces and Zillions at my PK-6.  I personally

love Cobblestone and Faces - each issue is chock full of interesting
facts and information.  Each issue of Cobblestone features something in
American history - usually includes some first-person stuff.   Each
issue of Faces features a different country or ethnic group from around
the world - lots of multi-cultural information.  Unfortunately, neither
of these titles is used by my students for browsing - the teachers
OCCASIONALLY use them for research or units in the classroom.

Both my students and I love Zillions.  It features articles and
information about "economics", but disguised in such a way that the
students enjoy it!  Mostly  Consumer Reports type stuff on things
juveniles are interested in - trading cards, sports equipment, computer
stuff.

Cobblestone--too young for grades 6-8
DisneyAdventure--popular with elementary, don't know about middles
Faces--nice Social Studies magazine about other countries and
    cultures--unfortunatley, no one has used it in any of my media
centers
Zillions--kids economics, maybe good for middles
Teen Beat--definitely

Depending on your selection criteria and admininstrative support, you
might
try a magazine on comics.  Also, Sports Illustrated, a skating or
skateboarding magazine (Transworld Skateboarding is popular), sports
digest
magazines (Basketball Digest, Football Digest, Baseball Digest), young
girls' magazines (I think there's one called YBS for Young Black
Sisters,
other girl culture magazines--watch the sexual stuff at the middle
school
level, though), and magazines that publish teen writings.


Your post about Teen Newsweek reminds me:  get Teen People.  I know kids
who
love it.  They did a special issue on Prince William a year ago that
went
off the newstand like crazy!

My middle schoolers LOVE Dirt Bike, Mountain Bike Action, Transworld
Skateboarding, Teen People, and Nintendo Power.

We tried Cobblestone, Zillions, and Faces for two years.  The
students (grades 6-8) would not pick them up.  Teachers now use them in
their classrooms as supplements.  Had much more success with Teen
People,
Surfer, Surfing, Skateboarder.  Require a little coloring ( adding
bathing
suits to an ad or two) but the kids love them, and they READ them.
Reptiles
and Outdoor World are also popular.

--
Lois Tabis, Librarian
Sharpsville HS, Sharpsville, PA
tabis@infonline.net

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