Roaring Twenties

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-A thought-provoking collection of essays about life in the U.S. during the 1920s. The 21 eyewitness selections (plus a few sidebars) are both interesting and informative. They cover a variety of topics, ranging from Wall Street, the Ku Klux Klan, and Prohibition to flappers, jazz, and Hollywood. There is a smattering of black-and-white photos, a chronology, and an extensive list for further research. Thomas Streissguth's The Roaring Twenties (Facts On File, 2001) is a large volume with an extensive array of firsthand accounts, but they are brief (one sentence to three paragraphs long) and merely give a taste of the topic. It features detailed chronologies and helpful appendixes of documents, personalities, and statistics. Kallen's book provides a full-bodied look at the era and is enjoyable to read.-Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.