Working Together Against Drinking and Driving

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8The focus of these series titles is prevention. The easy-to-read texts are printed in large typeface with short chapters that are divided by subheadings. Each chapter ends with "Questions to Ask Yourself." Posed full-color and black-and-white photographs appear throughout. Organizations to contact and brief lists for further reading are appended. In Crime, the weakest of the three, the same paragraph appears twice on one page. This book is didactic and oversimplified, as well as redundant. Adint seems to have been writing for young children. Drinking and Gang Violence are geared toward middle school readers and possible older reluctant readers. Grosshandler-Smith provides statistics but does not cite their sources. Examples of "Contracts for Life" and letters to send to government officials in favor of stricter laws are included and give readers some concrete material. The author offers advice for avoiding embarrassing situations and handling peer pressure about drinking. Gang Violence also has many practical suggestions for avoiding trouble. Titles in the "Drug Abuse Prevention Library" and "Need to Know Library" series (both Rosen) offer similar information in a more interesting style, but Drinking and Driving and Gang Violence are acceptable additions where needed.Marilyn Fairbanks, East Junior High, Brockton, MA