Environmental Destruction

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-This series entry presents scant information as sensationally as possible. Mainly focusing on the catastrophic effects of oil spills, nuclear waste, and chemical disasters, Rozens provides sketchy detail that is not only too brief for reports but also follows no particular rhyme or reason. He gives a recitation of facts and anecdotal reactions, but offers little in the way of evaluation or solutions. The discussion of the Exxon Valdez spill, for example, focuses only on the incident itself and the immediate aftermath. No attention is given to the many lessons that have been learned or the thousands of volunteer hours spent in the cleanup. While the book attempts to add supplemental material in the form of sidebars that address such topics as ``the danger of radiation'' and ``cleaning up a Superfund site,'' the coverage is again too superficial to be useful. Stick with Terry Carr's Spill! (Watts, 1991), Laurence Pringle's Oil Spills (Morrow, 1993), and Malcolm Weiss's Toxic Waste (Watts, 1984; o.p.).-Helen Rosenberg, Chicago Public Library, IL