Cool Physical Evidence: What's Left Behind

Children's Literature - Amy S. Hansen

Part of the "Cool CSI" series, Beck's book invites readers to look at how police address the physical evidence at a crime scene, including tire tracks, footprints and fingerprints. Before delving into the crime scene, though, Beck offers background on what CSI is and how investigators solve crimes. She explains that"[t]he answer is forensic science. This term means science as it relates to the law. The many areas of forensic science can help link people to crime, even if there are eyewitnesses. Forensic scientists look at the evidence left at a crime scene and try to figure out what happened there." Each book in the series discusses the scientific method and asks readers to analyze the evidence, trying to answer questions about what happened, where and when it occurred, who the suspects are and how the crime was done. This book includes hands-on experiments to teach readers how to identify tire tracks, footprints, fingerprints, and unknown substances (in this case, sugar). The book will appeal to CSI fans and other hands-on readers. Backmatter includes a glossary and an index. The series has six volumes, addressing not only physical evidence, but biological clues, crime scene basics, eyewitness accounts, forensic tools, and written records. Reviewer: Amy S. Hansen