Taking Action Against Youth Crime - Softcover

Grade 5–8—These titles have color sidebars, photographs, charts and graphs, and personal "It Happened to Me" stories to break up the dense texts. All four books have a decidedly British feel, with many statistics, examples, and other information related to the U.K. or Europe in general. The writing quality varies, from choppy in Youth Crime to smooth in Homelessness. Bailey discusses why young people might engage in or become victims of crime and describes the consequences. Bingham does a good job of explaining that bullying takes place in all levels of society—school, home, and work—and encourages those being bullied to seek help. Both books mention the frequent use of technology to commit crime or intimidate victims. Senker expands the idea of racism based on skin color to encompass religious, class, and institutional discrimination as well. Barring one glaring editorial miss (a cut-off sentence), Homelessness is the strongest of the titles. It discusses the many types and causes of homelessness, as well as the many societal issues involved with finding solutions to it. Each title concludes with a "Further information and Web Sites" section that is extremely disappointing. Only three books are listed, and the Web sites are pathfinders that, when followed, contained zero sites. Additional purchases.—Lisa Crandall, formerly at Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI
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