Tom Cruise (Star Tracks)

Children's Literature

For young movie fans, this 64-page book, with twelve chapters and many photographs, would be pleasant reading. The book opens with a vignette that shows a compassionate side of Tom Cruise and then reviews his life and screen successes and misses. Young people will identify with his childhood problems of meeting his father's expectations as a baseball player and enjoy his feats as an adult with racing cars, skydiving, and other daredevil sports. Some aspects of his life that might be sensitive adult issues, such as his divorces and membership in the Church of Scientology, are dealt with honestly and matter-of-factly. Although the publisher says reading level is grade 4, a Fry readability check indicates a 6th grade level and multi-syllable terms like critical acclaim, maverick, and legendary may pose a challenge to less able readers. The material, basic but presented in a high-interest style, provides information a teacher or librarian could pursue to ask questions that encourage higher level thinking skills. For example, the author writes, "By the time his father died that year, he still had not seen any of Tom's movies," a sentence that opens the possibility for many thoughtful quality questions. Part of the "Star Tracks" series, the book includes a list of Web sites, a glossary and an index. 2001, ABDO Publishing,
— Mary Bowman-Kruhm