LITHUANIA

One of the first four titles in the "Then and Now" series, about the republics of the former USSR (the others are Estonia; Latvia; and Russia). The format here is attractive—with many bright, well-captioned color photos and the logically organized text broken up by explanatory subheadings—but the tone is textbook dry: descriptions of geographical features and social programs; a summary of the country's history, a long series of alliances and partitions typical of Eastern Europe; somewhat fuller treatment of the brief period of independence between the World Wars, Soviet domination, and the new autonomy. There's a spread on the nuclear power plant at Ignalina, explaining that it is potentially as dangerous as Chernobyl, but no discussion of the high cancer rate that's also mentioned: Could it be the result of Eastern Europe's rampant pollution? A useful summary, but without the kind of detail that would engender interest in, or even sympathy, for this much-beleaguered people. (Nonfiction. 10+)