American citizens have been held hostage in the Middle East at least since 1979, when our embassy in Teheran was seized by a mob; Lawson's history of the US government's response in the 80's makes a sad tale of hypocrisy, incompetence, and corruption. He shows how, after the hostage crisis cost Carter his political career, Reagan allowed a series of profitable arms-for-hostages deals to go through—while publicly condemning the idea—to finance his ``pet anti-communist project.'' The ensuing revelations, investigations, and trials are covered here in some detail. In an epilogue, Lawson notes that a new group of hostages were taken when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990. A thematic introduction by Arthur L. Liman, an attorney involved in the Senate Iran-contra investigation, sums it up: Reagan's advisors, acting from ``disrespect, bordering on contempt'' for the Constitution, established a ``secret government within the Government'' for specifically illegal purposes. B&w photos; adequate bibliography; long chronology; excellent notes; chart listing hostages taken in the 80's; index. (Nonfiction. YA)
Pub Date: April 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-531-11009-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1991
Once again, a publisher that has found a niche with books for teens who have adult responsibilities meets a need by teaching teenage parents about positive discipline. The core here is an overview of development (including little experiments—e.g., to demonstrate an infant's memory at different stages) plus emphasis on discipline as a way to guide learning and educating through love and trust. Using comments and questions of young parents, the authors get to the essence of child-rearing concerns. Can you spoil an infant? What if your parents pressure you to hit the child, or to be too lenient? Guidelines (e.g., distract rather than punish) are geared specifically to teens: pithy, easy-to-read instructions; behavior that may be new—planning ahead, remembering the nature of infants, offering constant supervision, going slow to avoid future problems. Questions about issues like tantrums, meals, and living in a three-generation home are methodically answered, including introspection about ``too much going wrong'' and options—with one exception: The authors state that ``No one should ever discipline a child in anger,'' but too little is said about how to handle that anger. Bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 14+)*justify no*
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1991
ISBN: 0-930934-55-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
A comprehensive, up-to-date, well-balanced look at our industrialized society's poisoning of the air we breathe. Making good use of research she did for previous books on more specific topics, Gay covers a whole range of problems: urban smog (even in places considered clean), acid rain, global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, chemical poisons, radioactive pollution, and hazardous indoor air. She discusses the nature of each (including views of those who don't think it is a problem), how it came to public attention, and its damaging effects, tying them all to global concerns (particularly population issues and problems of Third World countries) and presenting mitigating solutions on both social and individual levels. The b&w photos and diagrams are well keyed to the text. An excellent resource. Helpful glossary; source notes; bibliography; list of organizations to contact; index. (Nonfiction. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-531-13002-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1991
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