(4) YA American Mosaic: African-American Contributors series. Two true American music creations--the blues and jazz--are highlighted in these books. The author does an adequate if abbreviated job of surveying the two musical forms from their earliest roots in Africa and as they intertwined with the culture and struggles of African Americans to the present day. The books are illustrated with archival photographs. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. [Review covers these American Mosaic: African-American Contributors titles: The History of Jazz and The History of the Blues.]

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(4) YA American Mosaic: African-American Contributors series. Two true American music creations--the blues and jazz--are highlighted in these books. The author does an adequate if abbreviated job of surveying the two musical forms from their earliest roots in Africa and as they intertwined with the culture and struggles of African Americans to the present day. The books are illustrated with archival photographs. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. [Review covers these American Mosaic: African-American Contributors titles: The History of Jazz and The History of the Blues.]

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(4) 4-6 Black Americans of Achievement series. A biography of this young athlete may seem premature, but those seeking a summary of her life to age twenty will find the volume illuminating. Illustrated with standard black-and-white photos, the book charts Williams's career and describes her still-evolving public persona. A timeline and statistics are included. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Overcoming Adversity series. The star of movies such as Die Hard and The Sixth Sense is presented as a childhood stutterer who overcame this difficulty with speech therapy. Unfortunately, the book, which is illustrated with stock black-and-white photos, overloads the first chapter with information on stuttering, while the rest of the volume is a rather standard celebrity biography. A time line and filmography are included. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Women of Achievement series. Quoting profusely from their subjects, as well as their peers and historians, the books in this series offer laudatory biographies of these influential women. Joan uses extensive excerpts from trial transcripts and documents, although there are no source notes. Mostly dull black-and-white photos and reproductions do little to break up or extend the text. All the books include a timeline. Bib., ind. [Review covers these titles: Katharine Graham, Diane Sawyer, Joan of Arc, Amy Tan, Martha Stewart.]

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) 4-6 Great Disasters: Reforms and Ramifications series. Each of the books in this series begins with an account of the disaster it concerns, followed by background including what is known of the origins and outcomes. Illustrated with black-and-white photos and a few diagrams, the detailed texts reward close reading. Chronologies end the books, and World Trade Center has an epilogue about September 11. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Great Disasters: Reforms and Ramifications titles: The Salem Witch Trials, The Dust Bowl, Three Mile Island, The Explosion of TWA Flight 800, The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing.]

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) YA Crime, Justice, and Punishment series. Various aspects of criminality and the judicial system are covered in the six well-focused books in this series. Historical perspectives--sometimes going back hundreds of years--are presented, as are appropriate examples from contemporary trials. The prose and the accompanying black-and-white illustrations are adequate, and together they capably explore each topic in an accessible manner. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Y.A. Crime, Justice, and Punishment titles: Police and Policing, Guns, Crime, and the Second Ammendment, Defense Lawyers, Judges and Sentencing, Gangs and Crime, Probabtion and Parole. ]

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta