ALTHOUGH our high-school library I subscribes to Booksin Canada, I I discovered that only one of 25 of the senior students I teachhad heard of it. This boy, a musician, remembered purchasing the December 1990issue because of its cover - a rock`n`roll Santa and his back-up reindeer band. Acting on a suggestion from the editorsof Books in Canada, I asked my seniors to review the magazine. They were toread at least one issue from cover to cover and, using the criteria of goodreviewing, to write their responses to it. The results were honest, fair, andwitty. Many of them admitted that they would nothave read Books in Canada without the spur of the assignment. Their reluctancehad something to do with the title and the covers. Sarah thought that the nameof the magazine was too much like a high-school text, setting off "emergencysigns flashing `rejection, rejection."` Hating to be caught with amagazine her parents might approve of, she suggested that the publicationshould try to trick her with a livelier title, such as Hockey, Backbacon, andCanadian Lit. Covers received mixed reviews. Tiinadisliked the October 1991 offering of cows in a field. Don`t drive awaypotential readers with a boring cover, she warned. Others censured the abstractillustrations. The September 1992 cover was "one of the ugliest I have everseen," wrote one reviewer. Darren thought that the 20th anniversary issue(May 1991) deserved a "less childish" cover. Mona preferred thedrawings to the portraits, noting that the surrealistic February 1992 cover"left a lot of space for the imagination to do its job," whereas"a face is just a face." The appearance inside drew varied commentas well. Bruno conceded that this magazine doesn`t require "colour-fillrd pagesof art and sex to sell its product." Phillip saw its typical buyer as"Biff," an artistic intellectual wearing a ponytail and John Lennonshades. Several students praised the readability of the two-column format withits generously spaced lines and decided to adopt the look for their own schoolmagazine. Rose liked the fact that the magazine has changed its look in recentissues. She praised the staff for "their ability to adapt to readers`tastes." Students tended to turn to features withinteresting photos or appealing illustrations. Jude liked the effect ofjuxtaposition in the photo of a masked Mohawk holding a child (February 1992).Other favourites were the comicbook drawings in the December 1991 issue. Inother issues, however, students sometimes found the illustrations"amateurish." Hanca admitted that there were drawings of which she"could make neither head nor tail." And Heidi called the full-pagephoto of Robertson Davies (November 1991) "intimidating." Obviously, then, hooks such as covers,pictures, and photos play an important part in convincing young people tosample the magazine. Several students also mentioned being drawn by catchytitles and subtitles. "Wildly interesting, isn`t it?" commented Monasarcastically of a piece entitled "Interview/Terence M. Green" in a1988 issue. But she noticed an improvement in titles in recent issues. Katie`sattention was caught by an unusual subtitle to the story "Twenty"(October 1991): "smelly old regulars and a parade of new girls." Students commented on the wide range ofbooks reviewed - everything from cookbooks to first novels to children`s books.Rudy thought that the magazine "delivers what it promises." He acknowledgedthat the sports magazines he normally buys "lure readers with promises offull-length articles and then fill the inside with meaninglessstatistics." He also appreciated the fact that there were no inserts"to fall into your soup." Heather liked not having to read reviewsfrom a magazine in which "the perfume ads make your eyes water" andwhere the books discussed "resemble an episode of `Geraldo."` Students enjoyed reviews about authorswith whom they are familiar; for example, Kevin Major and David Suzuki. Forthis reason, they praised the Children`s Books department where they spottedwrite-ups of old-time favourites such as Robert Munsch. Several of themadmitted to feeling stupid when they leafed through page after page aboutauthors they had never heard of. "The reason I don`t like this magazine ismy ignorance and lack of culture," said Chris. At the same time, hepointed out that the reviews seemed "extremely honest" compared tothose in his favourite magazines, Bass Player, Mountain Bike Action, and CycleWorld "where the writers rarely say anything bad about the products theyreview." "Biff would understand it," said Phillip, referring toa profile of the postmodernists Arthur and Marilouise Kroker (November 1991). Sometimes, though, students found theirinterest piqued by a review or an interview of an author new to them. Jude saidthat the Michel Tremblay piece in the February 1992 issue gave him a completelynew perspective on gay literature. Jennifer wanted to buy Helen FogwillPorter`s January, February, June, or July because of the three very differentassessments of it in the April 1989 issue. Hanca liked the interview with JoanClark (December 1989) because it raised a controversial question: "Shouldwriters invent characters of a race different from their own?" In general, pieces with a broad-basedappeal proved to be more popular with students than the reviews. They likedDoris Cowan`s "What`s in a Name?" (May 199 1), which suggests that,perhaps, reviews should be anonymous. Because they are in a creative-writingclass, they also enjoyed articles on their craft. The May 1991 issue was a favourite,especially Dennis McCloskey`s Field Note, which gave writers` hints on how tosucceed, and the retrospective by famous authors on the way they were at 20. Popular among the regular features ofBooks in Canada was Work in Progress. "A good way to sample books beforethey reach the shelves," said Phillip. From these samples, "The Girlwith the Botticelli Face" (November 199 1 ) got good reviews. Heidi likedit because "it depicts a non-greedy lifestyle so different from our own."Another popular short fiction was Evelyn Lau`s "Twenty," which Tiinapraised for its "hard-hitting imagery." 1. M. Owen`s The Written Word and AlecMcEwen`s Last Words received compliments. "Go out with a bang, Roseadvised, commending the impact of Last Words. Everyone thought that Owen andMcEwen provided "thoroughly sharp," "cheap," and"fun" grammar lessons that "reassure amateur writers that evenprofessionals make bloopers." Patriots all, students commended Books inCanada for its promotion of national culture. "The United States sees usas boring, over-conservative, and inartistic," said Phillip, adding that"US magazines would never give us our five minutes in the spotlight. Anexcellent way to promote young Canadian writers" was a typical commentabout the First Novels department. The consensus on the magazine? Thumbs upfrom my senior English class at Silverthorn Collegiate. Would other teenagersshare their view? Bill thought about this and commented: "I honestly feel that the magazinewould be unpopular with mainstream youth culture. Sadly, many may find thecontent boring. An example is my friend who flipped through an issue and saidit was too bad that I had to read it. He was surprised when I told him I likedit."