YOUNG PEOPLE OF WESTERN EUROPE

The format is familiar: a cursory introduction to the history, geography and culture of each of the countries, followed by two putative self-portraits. The teen-agers are obviously responding to stock questions about school, home, family, hobbies, scouts, church, travels--and not much etc.; consequently, their contributions lack variety and vitality. As a group, they are hardly representative: most of them are bright, much-traveled youngsters from affluent families--the Norwegian girl who has never been farther from her island home than the nearby mainland comes as a refreshing exception. The idea of kids talking to kids is always appealing but the exchange needs to be freer and fuller to have any meaning.