Uncanny

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Mysterious Places includes discussions of Stonehenge and Easter Island while The Uncanny highlights events involving actual people such as Rasputin and Sugar Ray Robinson. Both titles use highly charged, overly dramatic language. ("The doctors shook their heads in despair and all his parents could do was pray.") Following each entry, several "theories" are presented, ranging from the occasionally scientific to the outright supernatural. There is little detail given for any of these explanations and, although some authorities are cited by name in the texts, there are no bibliographies or note sections. The mishmash of fact, legend, and speculation make these books useless for research while the garish full-color illustrations and distracting page designs will deter browsers. For well-written, accurately documented treatments of supernatural topics, steer readers toward Daniel Cohen's books.-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL

Kirkus Reviews

Prefigurative dreams, faith healing, out-of-body experiencesþthis offering in The Unexplained series explores examples of five such phenomena. The authors advance various theories, but leaving readers to draw their own conclusions. In 1907 the hemophiliac son of Tsar Nicholas lay dying of internal bleeding until the "mad monk" Rasputin cured him, apparently with the power of prayer. In 1922 a lost dog tracked his master across the Pacific Ocean. Do animals have super senses or were the Earth's magnetic fields responsible for his remarkable tracking powers? In 1947 boxer Sugar Ray Robinson dreamed that he would kill his next opponent. He tried to cancel the fight but his promoters convinced him to go on. The opponent died; had Sugar Ray picked up his opponent's anxiety about the fight in his dream? These are intriguing questions, but the text barely scratches the surface in attempts to explore such puzzling events, all of which are discussed in other sources. A jumbled and frenetic design featuring intersecting color blocks and varying typefaces busies the book without giving it substance. (full-color photos and illustrations, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)