States of Matter

Children's Literature

Middle schoolers will enjoy the up-to-date examples from their own lives that Baldwin uses to hook the non-scientist and scientist alike into this world of mysterious matter. The chemistry enquirer will wonder about neon signs, lightening bolts and ice hockey. Melting point, density, tensile strength, are but a few concepts explained so simply and well, that all "get it." Photographs reinforce the text. Since most liquids sink when turned into a solid, why does ice float? The photograph of ice cubes sitting at the bottom of a glass of water will make a science teacher add this experiment to the lesson plan. There are many clear diagrams, such as one of the upper and lower atmosphere. There is a list of websites at the end of the book. Search strategies are suggested and the difference between a search engine, like Google, and a search directory, like Yahooligans, is defined. The glossary concept is expanded with definitions of the chemical vocabulary on each page. 2004, Raintree, Ages 10 up.
—Sue Stefurak