Death

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-- An earnest but uneven group of books. The narratives that highlight each issue feature younger YAs with whom readers will easily identify, and the full-color illustrations are tasteful and appropriate. Writing is clear, concise, and without condescension. Unfamiliar vocabulary is printed in italics. The material is interesting, but much of the content consists of professional opinion, psychological and sociological, and of a wide spectrum of philosophical expression rather than of the verifiable ``Facts About . . . '' of the series title. Adoption and Child Abuse will fill a need for resource materials, and will serve as catalysts for discussion. Peer Pressure is an intelligent, easy-to-understand expanded essay on becoming an adolescent. Gangs is chillingly to the point, with an exploration of the links between gangs and drugs. The illustrations are surprisingly tame. Discrimination gives in-depth coverage to the stereotyping and overt hostility to blacks, Jews, and native Americans. Its explanation of the term ``minorities'' as used today for purposes of public policy is not fully developed. Death gives a thorough account of the tension between advances in medical science technology and traditional definitions of death, and of the differences between clinical and brain death. Descriptions of physical changes after death, embalmment, and cremation are unflinchingly graphic. In stressing death as a natural phenomenon and concentrating on the mechanics, Stewart gives scant attention to ethical dilemmas, less to the spiritual dimension, and none at all to the role of the clergy. Use this one with care. --Libby K. White, Schenectady County Pub . Lib . , NY