(4) 4-6 Star Wars series. Illustrated by Annie Wu. Fourteen-year-old Mattis joins the Resistance to become a hero fighting the First Order. But first he and his troublemaking fellow recruits will have to become a team. This decent if uneventful new series set in the Star Wars universe focuses on establishing characters rather than on actual adventures, though a climactic encounter with monstrous rancors and a cliffhanger ending nicely set up the next installment.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) YA Women in the Arts series. Each book opens with a pivotal moment in a female artist's life and then steps back to tell its subject's story chronologically. Numerous photos enliven the text. Scattered sidebars--e.g., on the civil rights movement or modernism in literature--add historical and artistic context. List of works, reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Women in the Arts titles: Nina Simone, Agnes de Mille, and Virginia Woolf.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) YA Women in the Arts series. Opening with the story of the creation of Lange's most famous photograph ("Migrant Mother"), this biography then steps back to tell Lange's story chronologically, from her childhood bout with polio to her world travels later in life. Illustrations include both Lange's own work and other archival photos. Sidebars add context by profiling other artists and defining artistic movements. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) YA Major World Leaders series. Solid if impersonal introductions to five men who have played varying roles in the modern era, these volumes provide a good deal of historical background alongside the life stories of these contemporary leaders. Karzai is the liveliest book. Photographs help to break up the text. There are no source notes for quotations. Chronology, reading list, websites. Ind. Review covers these Major World Leaders titles: Gerhard Schroeder, Fidel Castro, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and Hamid Karzai.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 4-6 Major World Leaders series. Students researching current events will appreciate these volumes about six newsworthy subjects. Workmanlike prose balances biographical details with information--both positive and negative--about how these political figures have led, or continue to lead, their countries. The accompanying color photos are often pallid. Timelines are included. There are six other fall 2002 books in this series. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Major World Leaders titles: Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Anwar Sadat, Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin, and Yasir Arafat.]

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta