Brief, practical, and cogent.
A light dose of common-sense advice for teens hoping to avoid online scams.
While tallying a few general types of scams and other cybercrimes and citing a few high-profile examples, Sanderson familiarizes readers with some relevant vocabulary—like the difference between spear phishing, clone phishing, and angler phishing—and adds basic pointers on, for instance, not giving out personal information or friending strangers, confirming that charities are legitimate, and scrutinizing online retail sites. She emphasizes the vast scale of cybercrime, cites the (possibly surprising to readers) statistic that people under age 20 disproportionately fall victim to it, and urges those who have been scammed to gather evidence, talk to a trusted adult, and report incidents to the appropriate authorities. The final section, “Be a Responsible Digital Citizen,” offers helpful general guidelines to live by. While the approach is somewhat bland, the repetition of information supports striving readers, and all teens should come away more aware that there are some bad, clever actors out there—and what to do about them. Ample stock photos showing diverse young people, including a wheelchair user, add visual interest, and the varied layout, with information clearly labeled with headers and pulled out in text boxes, breaks the information down into manageable chunks.
Brief, practical, and cogent. (picture credits, glossary, resource lists, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781917509374
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Cheriton Children's Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
Attractively designed and handsomely illustrated, this informative text introduces teens to many intriguing angles on a...
Will the world end in a bang or a whimper? Unless pre-empted by human-induced disaster or one of many scientifically possible catastrophic scenarios, life on Earth will end a billion years from now in a sizzle.
Predicting the end of the world is an old story, argues the author, presenting evidence in brief surveys of eschatologies from the world's major religions and mythologies of ancient civilizations. Miller also notes how end-of-world scenarios have captured humanity's imagination in their frequent appearances in science-fiction novels and motion pictures. (Disappointingly, the reasons for this ongoing fascination are not explored.) A chapter about imminent predictions for 2012 explains the Mayan prophecy and a theory about a phantom planet called Nibiru crashing into Earth. Another chapter examines pseudoscientific end-of-world theories such as planetary alignment and pole shifts. The primary focus is on scientifically plausible scenarios: self-destruction through nuclear war or continued environmental exploitation; humanity wiped out by a pandemic; an asteroid or comet strike destroying Earth.
Attractively designed and handsomely illustrated, this informative text introduces teens to many intriguing angles on a high-interest topic that should inspire many to further explore the subject. (chronology, glossary, bibliography, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-7396-4
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
Catnip for scandal junkies, with a bit of historical perspective stirred in.
A gleefully explicit catalogue of the past century’s headline-grabbing bad behavior.
Aimed at readers who don’t need to be told who Brangelina is but may be hazy on “twisted besties” Leopold and Loeb or even Monica Lewinsky, this edutaining survey presents a wide-angle array of murders, sexual follies, controversial trials, race violence, political corruption and general envelope-pushing from the 1906 killing of Stanford White on. Each of the chronologically arranged entries opens with a capsule “Scoop” followed by a slightly fuller account under a “What Went Down” header. Along with a small black-and-white photo and one or two sidebar quotes, the author tacks on subsequent developments, sometimes-perceptive suggestions about “Why We Still Care” and a short roster of similar incidents in recent history. Though she misspells “Symbionese” and repeatedly awards FDR only three Presidential wins, in general Fryd presents reasonably accurate summaries of events and issues while giving all sides of the more muddled conflicts at least a nod. Additional cred is provided by a teen panel of editorial advisors.
Catnip for scandal junkies, with a bit of historical perspective stirred in. (index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9827322-0-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Zest/Orange Avenue
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
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