Beyond Books delivers an online alternative to traditional textbooks, with 21 semester-long, standards-based programs in social studies, science, language arts, and electives.

Helpful program outlines organize content so users can explore topics according to their interests. Click on a topic and Beyond Books' "pages" divide in two. On the right side students find the curriculum, for example, a discussion about the connection between the American frontier and American literature; the left side includes related facts and trivia, with links to additional Web resource. Study questions and interactive quizzes populate activity holdings in all curriculum areas. While marketed for middle school students, the scope and register of the curriculum seems more appropriate for high-schoolers.

Highlights of the program include the password-protected Teacher Door, where teachers will find hundreds of valuable lesson plans, all linked to Beyond Books' curriculum. Additionally, a Guest Experts feature put students and teachers in touch for real-time chat with specialists such as Dr. Jon Nese, chief meteorologist at the Franklin Institute Science Museum, who joined student online to talk about wild weather patterns.

Beyond Books adorns traditional textbook content with screened links, fun factoids, and helpful activities for both teacher and student. Basic animation, audio, and illustrative graphics help to strategically break up text, and no plug-ins are necessary. Beyond Books' site is Java-based, so content loads quickly.

Evaluator: Stephen Hettleman, writer and high school English teacher