ABSTRACT
Both history and science educators share common concerns regarding the importance of literature as a means of supporting discipline-specific literacy. These concerns have emerged, in part, as a reaction to the limitations that accompany the use of textbooks as the primary classroom resource. Textbooks, according to students, educators, and researchers, are sorely lacking, providing neither sufficient nor adequate information (Guzzetti, Kowalinski, & McGowan, 1992; Jones, Coombs, & McKinney, 1994; Sewall, 1988; Shymansky, Yore, & Good, 1991; Stinner, 1992).
