(4) YA Civil Rights Movement series. This series continues to delineate specific moments and submovements within the civil rights era. Plessy and Speed contextualize the court cases within civil rights history. Backlash provides analysis and discussion of violence during the times. Black Power looks at that movement's emergence. Copious well-chosen photographs help break up the informative but dense texts. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Civil Rights Movement titles: Black Power, With All Deliberate Speed, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Backlash.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(4) YA Xtreme Athletes series. A snowboarder's youthful enthusiasm is captured in White. Slater details the popular surfer's swift ascent in his sport. Beckham chronicles the very public soccer star's career. Each title includes the subject's successes and failures, but these are laudatory tributes to these impressive athletes. Stock photographs accompany the texts. Informative sidebars often interrupt the narrative flow. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Xtreme Athletes titles: David Beckham, Kelly Slater, and Shaun White.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) YA Modern Music Masters series. This biography tells of the internationally famous Jamaican-born singer, poet, musician, and pioneer of reggae music. The writing effectively depicts the social and historical climate in which Marley was raised: the stigma of his parents' interracial marriage, struggles with dishonorable producers and managers, political and religious beliefs, and mentors. Many quotes and photographs further show Marley's personality. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) YA World Leaders series. These competently written biographies give detailed overviews of the lives of Guevara and Stalin from their youths through adulthoods. The volumes focus mainly on the influences the men had over world events and their legacies. The well-captioned photographs, maps, and other visual aids (for example, "one of Che's fake passports" and Soviet propaganda posters) add interest. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these World Leaders titles: Che Guevara and Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) YA Portraits of Black Americans series. These well-rounded overviews of important civil rights leaders focus primarily on their accomplishments as influential activists and consider the contributions each made to the movement as a whole. Though informative, the writing is dry and unremarkable. The dull design features archival photographs and illustrations. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Portraits of Black Americans titles: A. Philip Randolph and the African-American Labor Movement, No Easy Answers, and Roy Wilkins.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer

(4) YA Portraits of Black Americans series. These well-rounded overviews of important civil rights leaders focus primarily on their accomplishments as influential activists and consider the contributions each made to the movement as a whole. Though informative, the writing is dry and unremarkable. The dull design features archival photographs and illustrations. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Portraits of Black Americans titles: A. Philip Randolph and the African-American Labor Movement, No Easy Answers, and Roy Wilkins.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer

(4) YA Portraits of Black Americans series. These well-rounded overviews of important civil rights leaders focus primarily on their accomplishments as influential activists and consider the contributions each made to the movement as a whole. Though informative, the writing is dry and unremarkable. The dull design features archival photographs and illustrations. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Portraits of Black Americans titles: A. Philip Randolph and the African-American Labor Movement, No Easy Answers, and Roy Wilkins.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer

(3) YA World Writers series. An engaging biography details the life of the controversial British writer and feminist. The daughter of parents who gave preferential treatment to their first-born son, Wollstonecraft became an outspoken advocate for women's rights. The book clearly shows how her experiences directly affected her political beliefs, which found a public voice with the publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Great Athletes series. Brief biographies focus on the still-evolving career of tennis player Sampras, and the experiences of Charlie Sifford, an African-American sportsman who fought to break the color line by joining the Professional Golfers Association during the 1950s. The writing is competent, but seldom reflects the excitement of the sports. Poorly reproduced black-and-white photographs accompany the texts. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.