Prisons: Library Edition (Overview series)

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-- Coverage of the whys and wherefores of the problems facing the American penal system is given in a clear and understandable way. Warburton outlines the history of prisons from their earliest inceptions in ancient Greece and Rome to those started by Quakers in the U. S., and beyond. The trends in treatment are discussed; views of current practices, issues, and everyday life behind bars are well illustrated. Alternatives such as electronic home arrest and creative sentencing are also explored. The liberal use of illustrations throughout adds interest. Current and well written, the book has a list of organizations to contact for further information on prisons and the criminal justice system. Without the fictionalization in Prisons and the Criminal Justice System (Walker, 1992) by Lois Smith-Owens and Vivian Gordon and much more current and better illustrated than Prisons (Enslow, 1988) by Ann Weiss, Warburton's title will suit researchers and debaters. --Kathryn Havris, Mesa Public Library, AZ