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THE HOLOCAUST OVERVIEW

Name: THE HOLOCAUST OVERVIEW
Author: Ann Byers
ISBN: 0-7660-1062-7

by Ann Byers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1998

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In this introductory volume to the Holocaust Remembered series, Byers presents a comprehensive and dramatic history of the Holocaust aimed at middle-schoolers. Tracing anti-Semitism back to its earliest expression Byers shows how hatred against the Jews, coupled with the rise of National Socialism, provided the force that swept Adolf Hitler to power. She makes clear that, from the very beginning, Hitler methodically conducted a reign of terror against European Jews: boycotts of Jewish businesses, harassment conducted on city streets, the creation of the Nuremburg Laws, and much more. She also outlines the four-part strategy to eliminate the Jews: exclusion, expulsion, enclosure, and ultimately, extermination. Numerous black-and-white period photographs provide evidence of the horrors of WWII. This is a solid introduction to the series, but is also effective as a stand-alone volume, a starting point in the curriculum. (chronology, notes, glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-7660-1062-7

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Enslow

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1998

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORY

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STRANGE NEW LAND

by Peter H. Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1996

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In The Young Oxford History of African Americans series, a thoroughly researched, thoughtfully written history starting with the first Africans on the continent to American blacks during the Revolution. The subtitle, ``African Americans 16171776,'' is misleading: Wood (for adults, Black Majority, 1974, etc.) begins around 1500, with the emergence of the Spanish slave trade. From there, he traces the role of Africans in the earliest settlements in North America and describes the different policies towards them under Spanish, French, Dutch, and British jurisdiction. The rest of the book—illustrated with black-and-white maps, reproductions, and photographs—deals with the early history of American slavery, specifically with the institutionalization of racism. At the same time, Wood looks at the culture and everyday life of slave communities, illustrating his narrative with a number of intriguing biographies. While his selection of facts and figures is illuminating throughout, what makes the work a particular pleasure are Wood's inspired discussions; he ably links facts and puts them into larger contexts for readers. An obscure chapter in American history, rendered vividly. (chronology, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-19-508700-3

Page Count: 125

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1995

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION

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BIODIVERSITY

by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent & illustrated by William Muñoz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 1996

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Patent (Children Save the Rain Forest, p. 903, etc.) stresses the importance of protecting the planet's rich gene pool for the survival of all species, and makes clear that seemingly insignificant species may provide medicines and products of great usefulness. With plants and animals in tropical Costa Rica and the more temperate US as models, Patent demonstrates how life forms evolve, adapt, and become extinct. She describes the natural forces of evolution and the threat posed by people. Readers learn of the private and public efforts to catalog and conserve plants and animals, e.g., Costa Rica's National Institute of Biodiversity, a government program that trains local people to collect and categorize specimens. Although Patent mentions the government agreements with drug companies that encourage exploration in exchange for a percentage of the profit when useful substances are identified, there is no discussion of the ethical considerations. The many handsome, full-color photographs are not always well placed and sometimes are only marginally related to the text. Still, this is an attractive and personal discussion of an important issue. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)