From the Editors

A year ago, after a somewhat thrilling speedway-esque drive to the Atlanta airport in which our fingernails were embedded into the car door handles, the two of us left the ALAN Conference and boarded our separate planes as the incoming co-editors of The ALAN Review . Our minds were spinning with ideas and goals, dreams and wishes for our tenure as co-editors, as we headed back to our respective roles as a university professor at Arizona State University and as a seventh-grade language arts teacher in Wamego, Kansas.

As time went on, our first and foremost wish was that Sissi Carroll, who has done such an outstanding job as the editor of the publication, would never step away from her telephone or computer so that she would continue to receive our calls and emails instantaneously. As it turned out, Sissi was more than gracious with her help in the editorial transition, and we sincerely thank her for it.

Our next wish was that we would be able to retain so many quality people who had helped make the journal such a quality publication. If you glance at the list of section editors and contributing writers and reviewers, we hope you recognize our attempt to merge some of ALAN's present leaders with some of ALAN's leaders of tomorrow. We wish to thank everyone who served in the past and to welcome our new column editors:

• Claudia Katz , Evanston, Illinois: Middle School Connection editor
• Kay Smith , Highland, Utah: High School Connection editor
• Jeffrey S. Kaplan , Orlando, Florida: Research Connection editor
• M. Jerry Weiss , Montclair, New Jersey: Publishers Connection editor
• William Broz , Batavia, Iowa: Professional Resource Connection editor
• Diane P. Tuccillo , Mesa, Arizona: Library Connection editor
• Jean Brown , Warwick, Rhode Island: Nonprint YAL Connection editor

And, in addition to those already serving, two new editorial board members join us:

• Jean Boreen, Flagstaff, Arizona
• Wendy Glenn, Storrs, Connecticut

We're thrilled to have all these talented individuals joining with us as we begin our own journey as co-editors.

Also on our wish list has been that we continue to encourage dialogue and research and practical application involving young adult literature. Thirty-some years ago, the works of S.E. Hinton and a handful of others were slipping into the hands of teen readers, educators, and librarians. Today, in our own classrooms, students are clamoring for "more books like these"—Walter Dean Myers' Monster , Lois Duncan's Locked in Time , and Gary Paulsen's The Rifl e, to name a few. It's because of the hard work of those before us that we're able to find such a growing list of possibilities to share with those students. And it's our responsibility to help further this path they have begun.

Yes, the taxi drive to the airport a year ago was one of our more thrilling adventures, but it pales in comparison to the excitement we're feeling as we provide you with our first co-edited issue of The ALAN Review . We hope you'll join us.