(3) YA Black Americans of Achievement, Legacy Edition series. Each of these biographies details a well-known figure's rise from adversity to national and/or international recognition. The books go beyond the typical personal information to provide some social history relevant to the subject's time. Captioned photographs and boxed inserts enhance the conversational texts. Carver and Hines have been revised and updated. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind. Review covers these Black Americans of Achievement, Legacy Edition titles: George Washington Carver, Gregory Hines, Condoleezza Rice, and Barack Obama.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) YA Creation of the Modern Middle East series. These books (most revised and updated) are straightforward histories of Middle Eastern countries (though the area's volatility makes the series immediately out of date). The texts are dry, but they do an adequate job of providing background. Useful maps delineate the region's geography, and the many photographs add interest. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Creation of the Modern Middle East titles: Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) YA Creation of the Modern Middle East series. These books (most revised and updated) are straightforward histories of Middle Eastern countries (though the area's volatility makes the series immediately out of date). The texts are dry, but they do an adequate job of providing background. Useful maps delineate the region's geography, and the many photographs add interest. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Creation of the Modern Middle East titles: Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) YA Global Organizations series. These books highlight the interconnectedness of the modern world, focusing on governmental organizations and international associations. Readers will gain insight into today's oil, energy, and banking crises (though the information isn't up-to-the-minute) and learn about governmental challenges. The writing is dry, but some personal stories and well-captioned photographs enliven the texts. There are four other fall 2008 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review includes these Global Organizations titles: The African Union, The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, The International Atomic Energy Agency, and The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) YA Creation of the Modern Middle East series. These books (most revised and updated) are straightforward histories of Middle Eastern countries (though the area's volatility makes the series immediately out of date). The texts are dry, but they do an adequate job of providing background. Useful maps delineate the region's geography, and the many photographs add interest. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Creation of the Modern Middle East titles: Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) YA Milestones in American History series. Short, clearly written chapters explore significant events in American history. The curricular-support titles are amply illustrated with black-and-white and color photographs and reproductions and supported with biographical sketches and excerpts from primary documents. There are five other spring 2009 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Milestones in American History titles: The Donner Party, The Oregon Trail, The Pony Express, The Prohibition Era, The Outbreak of Civil War, and The Emancipation Proclamation.

Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo

(4) YA Creation of the Modern Middle East series. These books (Iraq and Palestinian have been revised and updated) are straightforward histories of Middle Eastern countries (though the area's volatility makes the series immediately out of date). The texts are dry, but they do an adequate job of providing background. Useful maps delineate the region's geography, and the many photographs add interest. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Creation of the Modern Middle East titles: United Arab Emirates, The Palestinian National Authority, and Iraq.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) YA Modern Peacemakers series. These biographies of Nobel Peace Prize winners provide windows into worldwide political and social issues. Triumphs and controversies surrounding the winners (e.g., inaccuracies in Menchú's autobiography) are covered using primary and secondary sources. More photographs would have been useful to break up long discussions of complex issues. There are six other spring 2007 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Modern Peacemakers titles: Desmond Tutu, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel, and Rigoberta Menchú Tum.

Reviewer: Laura A. Woollett

(4) 4-6 U.S. Government: How It Works series. Archival photographs, paintings, and sidebars combine with a well-written, informative text to present a comprehensive discussion of the various agencies and organizations within the U.S. federal government. Each title adequately provides the historical context necessary to understand the inception and development of the featured subject, though the density of text may put off some readers. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these U.S. Government: How It Works titles: The Department of Homeland Security, The Central Intelligence Agency, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, and The Presidency.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) 4-6 U.S. Government: How It Works series. Archival photographs, paintings, and sidebars combine with a well-written, informative text to present a comprehensive discussion of the various agencies and organizations within the U.S. federal government. Each title adequately provides the historical context necessary to understand the inception and development of the featured subject, though the density of text may put off some readers. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these U.S. Government: How It Works titles: The Department of Homeland Security, The Central Intelligence Agency, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, and The Presidency.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) 4-6 U.S. Government: How It Works series. Archival photographs and paintings and sidebars combine with informative text to present a comprehensive discussion of the political parties and processes that define U.S. government. Each title adequately provides the historical context necessary to understand the featured subject, though the density of text may put off some readers. There are five other new books in this series. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these U.S. Government: How It Works titles: How the Constitution Was Created, The Impeachment Process, The History of the Democratic Party, The History of the Republican Party, and How the President Is Elected.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) 4-6 U.S. Government: How It Works series. Archival photographs and paintings and sidebars combine with informative text to present a comprehensive discussion of the political parties and processes that define U.S. government. Each title adequately provides the historical context necessary to understand the featured subject, though the density of text may put off some readers. There are five other new books in this series. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these U.S. Government: How It Works titles: How the Constitution Was Created, The Impeachment Process, The History of the Democratic Party, The History of the Republican Party, and How the President Is Elected.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) YA Modern Peacemakers series. These biographies of Nobel Peace Prize winners provide windows into worldwide political and social issues. Triumphs and controversies surrounding the winners (e.g., inaccuracies in Menchú's autobiography) are covered using primary and secondary sources. More photographs would have been useful to break up long discussions of complex issues. There are six other spring 2007 books in this series. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Modern Peacemakers titles: Desmond Tutu, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel, and Rigoberta Menchú Tum.

Reviewer: Laura A. Woollett

(4) 4-6 U.S. Government: How It Works series. Archival photographs, paintings, and sidebars combine with a well-written, informative text to present a comprehensive discussion of the various agencies and organizations within the U.S. federal government. Each title adequately provides the historical context necessary to understand the inception and development of the featured subject, though the density of text may put off some readers. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these U.S. Government: How It Works titles: The Department of Homeland Security, The Central Intelligence Agency, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, and The Presidency.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) 4-6 U.S. Government: How It Works series. Archival photographs and paintings and sidebars combine with informative text to present a comprehensive discussion of the political parties and processes that define U.S. government. Each title adequately provides the historical context necessary to understand the featured subject, though the density of text may put off some readers. There are five other new books in this series. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these U.S. Government: How It Works titles: How the Constitution Was Created, The Impeachment Process, The History of the Democratic Party, The History of the Republican Party, and How the President Is Elected.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(3) YA Black Americans of Achievement, Legacy Edition series. Each of these biographies details a well-known figure's rise from adversity to national and/or international recognition. The books go beyond the typical personal information to provide some social history relevant to the subject's time. Captioned photographs and boxed inserts enhance the conversational texts, most of which have been completely revised. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind. Review covers these Black Americans of Achievement, Legacy Edition, titles: Maya Angelou, Jimi Hendrix, Scott Joplin, Bob Marley, Oprah Winfrey, Josephine Baker, and Chris Rock.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) YA Drugs, the Straight Facts series. The books in this cautionary series succeed because they are lucid, well organized, and filled with color photos, charts, graphs, diagrams, lists (e.g., "Famous Dead Smokers"), and other visuals that both break up the text and reinforce the just-say-no message. The authors only lose traction with the melodramatically written anecdotes designed to scare readers straight. Addresses, reading list, websites. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Drugs, the Straight Facts titles: Heroin, Hallucinogens, Cocaine, and Nicotine.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) YA Drugs, the Straight Facts series. The books in this cautionary series succeed because they are lucid, well organized, and filled with color photos, charts, graphs, diagrams, lists (e.g., "Famous Dead Smokers"), and other visuals that both break up the text and reinforce the just-say-no message. The authors only lose traction with the melodramatically written anecdotes designed to scare readers straight. Addresses, reading list, websites. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Drugs, the Straight Facts titles: Heroin, Hallucinogens, Cocaine, and Nicotine.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 4-6 Great American Presidents series. These serviceable biographies of three popular American presidents are insufficiently detailed about their subjects as individuals or about their policies (e.g., Lincoln focuses primarily on the Civil War rather than on his role in it). All three books are illustrated with reproductions, and the texts are broken up with boxed quotes from various speeches given by the subjects. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Great American Presidents titles: Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan.]

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) YA African-American Leaders series. These biographies of contemporary African-American leaders in politics, social reform, and education focus less on their subjects' lives and more on aspects of social history relevant to the time period. Average-quality photographs illustrate the texts. Only Rice is referred to by her first name throughout the text. Timeline. Bib., ind. Review covers these African-American Leaders titles: Condoleezza Rice; Carol Moseley-Braun; Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; and Benjamin Hooks.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith