(4) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Movie Makers series. Each bio-critical profile focuses on the director's success on one film or franchise. Complemented by photos and sidebars, the narratives intermix details regarding the subjects' personal lives and their professional careers. While the adulatory biographies read like rave reviews themselves, they do provide an excerpt from both a positive and a negative review of the film. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Checkerboard Library: Movie Makers titles: George Lucas, J. J. Abrams, Jennifer Lee, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, and John Lasseter.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(4) 4-6 People to Know Today series. Opening with a highlight or turning point in the subjects' lives, these generally laudatory biographies provide adequate (though generic) introductions to well-known personalities. Some of the accompanying photographs and sidebars are interesting, but others do little to enhance or elevate the texts. Hillary Clinton frequently shifts its focus to Bill. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind. Review covers these People to Know Today titles: Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg, and Bono.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) 4-6 Behind the Camera series. Each book in this series profiles an award-winning director, balancing biographical information and professional accomplishments. The directors' films are examined at length, but unfortunately without much depth, in facile texts that contain omissions as well as some factual errors. Average-quality color photographs and movie stills illustrate the books, which also include filmographies and timelines. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Behind the Camera titles: Rob Reiner, James Cameron, Ron Howard, George Lucas, Spike Lee, and Steven Spielberg.]

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 4-6 This overview of Spielberg's life and career is of particular interest because of its insights into the director's childhood and his youthful interest in movie-making. Illustrated with family photos and film stills, the clearly written volume explains how each of Spielberg's major movies came to be made and how his work on Schindler's List motivated him to start the Shoah Foundation, whose goal is to videotape the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta