AIDS: In Search of a Killer

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up A popularization of the most recent findings on AIDS. Much of the book is on epidemiology, sometimes reading like a detective story of the tracking of the disease from country to country, victim to victim. Research is cited as of early 1987, and includes mention of the drug AZT (although it is now known as Retrovir), as well as AIDS support groups such as Shanti and the Gay Men's Health Crisis. Most of the material is readably nontechnical, except for the Centers for Disease Control's detailed Surveillance Criteria. The description of how the immune system works is particularly clear. Much of this material has been covered by Margaret Hyde in AIDS: What Does It Mean to You? (Walker, 1987) and by the Silversteins in AIDS: Deadly Threat (Enslow, 1986), but LeVert's jargon-free style and unusual details make this a useful supplement. Sexual knowledge is assumed, and precautions against catching the virus are limited to two paragraphs. Case studies sympathetically outline the plight of drastically ill victims. This is a well-researched, objective, and readable book. Anne Osborn, Riverside Public Library, Calif.