Best-known for his exposÇs of conditions in inner-city schools, Kohl pursues educational reform at a different level with this dictionary of important terms in the arts, philosophy, logic, critical thinking, linguistics, and the social sciences. Noticing that his high-school and college students lacked the vocabulary to express their ideas clearly, Kohl offers brief explanatory essays to help them understand and use terms like ``deconstruction'' and ``heuristic,'' as well as the oft- misunderstood ``conservative'' and ``liberal.'' Almost all the ideas come from the Western European tradition, though Kohl takes pains to mention women and influences from other civilizations. His definitions are models of evenhanded clarity, but will challenge readers to think rigorously and cannot be skimmed. Some examples betray a slight liberal bias—e.g. he prefers ``sexual orientation'' (used by gay activists) to ``sexual preference'' (used by the media). Without the context of an overall history or outline of ``Western Civilization,'' and unlikely to appeal to general readers, but very useful, nonetheless, for serious students who really want to know what those twenty-dollar words mean. (Nonfiction. 14+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-316-50138-7
Page Count: 246
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1992
Pitamic bites off more than she can chew with this instructional art volume, but its core projects will excite in the right context. Twelve pieces of fine art inspire two art projects apiece. Matisse’s The Snail opens the Color section; after history and analysis, there’s one project arranging multicolored tissue-paper squares and one project adding hue to white paint to create stripes of value gradation. These creative endeavors exploring value, shade, texture and various media will exhilarate young artists—but only with at best semi-successful results, as they require an adult dedicated to both advance material procurement and doing the artwork along with the child. Otherwise, complex instructions plus a frequent requirement to draw or trace realistically will cause frustration. Much of the text is above children’s heads, errors of terminology and reproduction detract and the links between the famous pieces and the projects are imprecise. However, an involved adult and an enterprising child aged seven to ten will find many of the projects fabulously challenging and rewarding. Art In Action 2 (ISBN: 978-0-7641-441-7) publishes simultaneously. (artist biographies, glossary, location of originals) (Nonfiction. Adults)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7641-4440-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
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
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