Discrimination

Hazel Rochman

Both global and historical, this title in the Past and Present series has the great advantage of a cross-cultural perspective. The inevitable disadvantage is that world history is compressed into one short volume, and kids may not get much from the thumbnail sketches of complex situations, ranging from Northern Ireland to Israel to Stalinist Russia. What readers will get is some sense of connection between the struggles of various oppressed groups. Phillips looks at the status of women as well as discrimination by race, religion, and culture, both in the U.S. and abroad. The design is readable, with lots of subheads; dramatic, well-captioned black-and-white photographs; and some excellent boxed quotes. There is a list of key dates and a clear glossary, but there's no bibliography, which is a real loss, since everything in this book will stimulate kids to want to read more--whether it's about anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko, suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, the Australian Aborigines, or the native peoples of America.