What's So Super about the Supernatural?

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-A splash of cold water in the face of a hot topic. The great majority of presentations on ghosts, psychic powers, and mysterious phenomena are either cautiously neutral or enthusiastically promotional in their presentation. Gardner takes some of the best-known paranormal activities and events in the modern Western world and quickly debunks them. Psychic surgery, Uri Geller's spoon bending, Ted Serios's thought photography, dowsing, psychic predictions, ghost stories, the Roswell Incident, the filmed alien autopsy, and crop circles are briefly described and just as swiftly explained as hoaxes or natural occurrences. Nearly half of the book is devoted to experiments for exploring one's own telepathic or psychic powers in a relatively neutral way. However, it is not clear why attempting psychic communication with a pet requires a lot of furniture and an opaque screen when the experimenter is just trying to get the animal to come to him from another room. The author also includes many psychic demonstration tricks that can be played on audiences for fun and amazement. In keeping with the spirit of skepticism, the bibliography lists titles that are painstakingly neutral or debunkings. Although the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), publisher of the Skeptical Inquirer, is mentioned, no address or Web site is listed. Overall, this title is a down-to-earth look at popular mysteries.-Ann G. Brouse, Big Flats Branch Library, NY