ABC-CLIO
Israel and Syria; the military balance and prospects of war.
Cordesman (Center for Strategic and International Studies) and collaborators review the comparative strengths and capabilities of the militaries of Israel and Syria. They also offer an assessment of whether war could break out between the two countries and how it would play out. Further, they examine strategic and other dimensions of a possible war on the Golan Heights, the Syrian territory currently occupied by Israel, and explore issues of continuing external asymmetric wars involving the Palestinians, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and/or Iran. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Jennifer Lopez; a biography.
In this biography meant for high school students, Tracy, a journalist, chronicles the life and career of singer/actress Jennifer Lopez. She recounts her childhood, dance training, early work for In Living Color and other TV shows, breakthrough role as Selena, singing career, and marriages and personal life. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Juvenile sex offenders; what the public needs to know.
Gibson (juvenile justice and psychology, Prairie View A&M U.) and Vandiver (criminal justice, Texas State U.) wrote this book to counter prevailing misconceptions about the nature of juvenile sex offenders and of juvenile sex offending that have resulted in laws that both hinder rehabilitation and provide a false sense of security. Their eight chapters describe and define juvenile sex offending, present case studies illustrating why juveniles offend, provide examples of the variety of those who might be labeled juvenile sex offenders, examine common typologies of sex offenders, address the issue of recidivism, critique the current legal response in the United States, and urge public education on the true nature of juvenile sex offending. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Kalashnikov culture; small arms proliferation and irregular warfare.
"Kalashnikov culture," named after the widely available automatic assault rifles, was a term first used in the late 1980s by Pakistani officials to describe the social and political violence of the North West Frontier Province. As the late Benazir Bhutto and other officials defined it, it mixed tribal discontent, urban political factionalism, organized crime, corruption, drugs, and the proliferation of light military weapons. With some variations, Carr (international security, US Air War College) suggests, Kalashnikov cultures have become fixtures all over the world. This volume is an attempt to define Kalashnikov cultures through examining the constituent parts that form their dynamic. He alternates chapters examining a particular facet of the problem with case study chapters. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Latina writers.
Stavans (Latin American and Latino Culture, Amherst College) compiles 11 essays for students, specialists, and general readers by Latina writers and scholars, who come from different theoretical perspectives and discuss major themes in Latina literature; Chicana feminist criticism; the language of food in works by women; fragmentation, exile, and nostalgia; and the concept of mestizaje as viewed through queer theory. Interviews with Judith Ortiz Cofer and Esmeralda Santiago and personal essays by Maria Irene Foneés and others are included. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The legislative branch of federal government; people, process, and politics.
Part of ABC-Clio's About Federal Government series, this book by Gershman (history and legal studies, Nova Southeastern U.) introduces the history and current realities of the US Congress to a general readership. He offers chapters on US constitutional history as it pertains to Congress; the evolving roles, functions, and powers of the legislative branch; Congressional structures and processes; leadership roles and significant individual legislators; historical and contemporary politics of the legislature; and interactions with other branches. He also offers 230 pages of historical documents, including major pieces of legislation, Supreme Court cases, and articles of impeachment. Additionally, a glossary of concepts and people and an annotated bibliography are included. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Literature of the Caribbean.
For students, Paravisini-Gebert (Hispanic studies, Vassar College) presents a survey of Caribbean literature through the examination of 15 novels by contemporary writers. These include Michael Anthony's The Year in San Fernando, Michelle Cliff's Abeng, Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John, V.S. Naipaul's The Mystic Masseur, Jena Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones, and Derek Walcott's Omero. Information on the authors' careers is also given. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Merchandising made simple; using standards and dynamite displays to boost circulation.
In this brief, well-organized volume, librarian LaPerriere and merchandising professional Christiansen (both with the Denver Public Library) introduce principles and practices for branding and creating appealing displays to attract readers and boost circulation in libraries. In chapters supported by examples illustrated in b&w photos, the authors discuss the use of collection presentation standards as well as ideal locations for displays, the use of fixtures and furniture, props, detailed steps for aesthetic and practical display-building, and upkeep. They also discuss techniques for enlisting and educating staff and for assessing success. The final chapter suggests about 50 themes for library displays and the collections (not specific titles) and props that should accompany each. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Mexico; a global studies handbook.
This reference introduces general readers and students in high school and up to the history, economy, politics, society, and culture of Mexico. The first half of the book consists of narrative chapters, covering history from ancient times to the 2006 presidential elections, and exploring topics such as the country's currency stability, the Mexican military, literary traditions, and drug trafficking. The second half of the book contains a chronology and several reference sections on holidays, food, and important people, places, and events. A bibliographic essay points readers to additional sources. The reference section concludes with brief descriptions, contacts, and web addresses of civic, business, and government organizations. High-quality b&w photos, both historical and contemporary, are included. Huck is assistant director of Graduate Programs at the Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Military occupations in the age of self-determination; the history neocons neglected.
The end of World War II was, in the formulation of Gannon (a journalist formerly with NBC News), the beginning of the age of national determination. In the age of national determination, he sets out to show, strong powers simply cannot successfully occupy smaller countries if a credible insurgency arises. In order to demonstrate this, he examines the experiences of Britain in Palestine prior to the declaration of Israeli independence, France in Algeria, the British military successes against insurgencies in Malaya and Kenya, the United States in Vietnam, Israel in Lebanon, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and the current occupation of Iraq by the United States. The British experiences in Malaya and Kenya are included because they demonstrate that strictly military victories do not necessarily translate into political victories. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Miracles; God, science, and psychology in the paranormal; 3v.
Scholars of biological and mental health sciences and of religion review explanations that have been forwarded over the ages and around the world for events that fall outside of everyday experience and are deemed beneficial. The three volumes cover in turn religious and spiritual events, medical and therapeutic events, and parapsychological perspectives. Specific topics include Jesus and miracles in historical, biblical, and psychological perspective; where medicine ends and the miraculous begins in mysterious healings; an African perspective on miracles; and personal experience, self-reporting, and hyperbole. The three volumes are paged and indexed separately. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Motivating readers in the middle grades.
Collins, a teacher librarian at John Glenn Middle School in Bedford, Massachusetts, offers step-by-step directions for conducting reading motivation programs, such as "battles of the books," reading playoffs, and author visits, and provides reproducibles to use in designing individualized reading promotion programs. There is also a chapter on using technology to reel in readers. In a 20-page collection guide, she lists and describes recommended titles in eight different genres. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Music in the middle ages; a reference guide.
Lord (flute and music history, Southern Illinois U., Carbondale) provides a reference guide for general readers on the music of the Middle Ages. She covers the historical context, role of the church, and the role of music in it, followed by discussion of musical developments in specific areas of Europe, with additional chapters on instruments and dance music. She does not include the notation and performance systems of Byzantium and Islam. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The myth of the oil crisis; overcoming the challenges of depletion, geopolitics, and global warming.
Mills (petroleum economics manager, Emirates National Oil Company, United Arab Emirates) argues that pervasive fears concerning "peak oil" are unfounded and can lead to dangerous policy choices. The supply of oil and gas is much larger than imagined, he contends, while also warning against attempts to achieve political, military, or commercial control of oil supplies as being unnecessary, self- defeating, and inordinately expensive. He also argues that there are alternative energy sources that can help reduce global oil consumption and increase living standards worldwide and that anthropogenic climate change from the use of fossil fuels is a serious global threat but can be overcome with a portfolio of solutions. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The National Guard and Reserve; a reference handbook.
Doubler (a retired Army National Guard officer with a doctorate in military history) introduces the various components of the US National Guard and Reserve. After discussing the role of "citizen- soldiers" in national defense, he offers separate chapters on the National Guard, the Army Reserve, the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve, the Air Force Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve. Each chapter offers a historical description of how each component has been utilized from their origins to the present time. He also discusses the role of the Guard and the Reserve in the "War on Terrorism" and addresses future considerations. Appendixes offer biographies of key Guard and Reserve figures and information on significant legislation. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Netroots rising; how a citizen army of bloggers and online activists is changing American politics.
The Internet has empowered citizen activism just as television had weakened it, argue Feld (a political consultant who served as the "netroots" consultant for the 2006 Senatorial campaign of Jim Webb) and Wilcox (a political consultant with the WebStrong Group), citing the MoveOn petition opposing the impeachment of Bill Clinton as an early example of such activism and the "insurgent" presidential campaigns of Howard Dean and Wesley Clark as major milestones in the explosion of "netroots" activism. Here they describe both those campaigns and others with which they were involved as volunteers, consultants, and bloggers. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Nigeria's stumbling democracy and its implications for Africa's democratic movement.
Bringing together contributions from political scholars from Nigeria, the United States, and Europe, Okafor (African American studies, Eastern Michigan U.) presents a collection that focus on the problems of the state, federal, and presidential elections in Nigeria in April, 2007 and their implications for democratic development in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole. Although the elections led to the peaceful hand-over of power from Olusegun Obasanjo to Alhaji Musa Yar'Adua, many critics, including internal and international poll observers, charged that the elections could not really be considered free and fair. The volume's 11 chapters summarize Nigeria's political evolution; place the 2007 election controversy in historical and international context; discuss the injection of commercialization into electoral politics; examine patronage politics and the elections in the Nigerian state of Anambra; explore the prospects of electronic voting for Nigerian elections; criticize the role of geographical zoning in the allocation of political and bureaucratic offices; place the 2007 elections in the context of general African political trends; compare the extrinsic factors impeding democratic development in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya; and draw lessons for democracy and development in Africa from the experiences of the African diaspora in the Americas. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Nine thousand straws; teaching thinking through open-inquiry learning.
Knodt, who consults, writes, and presents about open-inquiry learning, describes teaching using this approach, based on her experiences designing and directing a central inquiry learning lab for an elementary school in northern Virginia. She explains how open inquiry provides a setting for students to explore using their critical and creative thinking skills in a hands-on way. She explains the theory behind the approach, provides 30 hands-on projects and 33 starter discussions, and describes the design of projects and setting up environments in classrooms or labs in libraries, for instance. In addition, parental involvement is discussed. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The Olympics resource book.
This guide contains lessons and activities to be used in conjunction with teaching social studies using a current event: the Olympics. Historical context is given, followed by activities from assignments to projects to homework, and reproducible handouts and primary sources. Lessons and activities relate to the Olympics and ancient world history, American history, and government and economics. The introduction and activities were written by James Emmons (special collections librarian, Maryland Historical Society) and Glenn West (instructional specialist, California International Studies Project). There is no index or bibliography. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Politics and the papacy in the modern world.
Coppa (history, St. John's U.) describes how the 17 popes from Pius VI (1775-99) to Benedict XVI (2005-) have confronted conflicts and crises of the modern world, among them revolutionary upheaval, liberalism, world wars, totalitarianism and anti-Semitism, and communism and its collapse. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The portable MLIS; insights from the experts.
Haycock (library and information science, San Jose State U.) and Sheldon (Texas Woman's U.) provide 18 chapters by library and information science professionals from the US who introduce the competencies of professional librarians for students and general readers. They describe the evolution of library missions, the ethics and values of the profession and connections to human rights, the duties and environments of librarians, and competencies such as leadership, management, organization, and research. Other chapters address globalization and how the library is a business. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Positive psychology; exploring the best in people; 4v.
This four-volume set is intended to introduce the general reader to the practice of Positive Psychology. Noting that many similar books give variations on this topic, the editor, Lopez, director of the Clifton Strengths Institute, emphasizes that all the articles printed in this set are grounded in serious scientific studies, not the opinions and experiences of individuals. Each volume stresses an aspect of positive thinking and feeling: strength, emotional experiences, adversity, and human flourishing. Each article concludes with suggestions for self-evaluation and methods of change. All are thoroughly referenced. Within each topic there are a variety of interpretations (e.g. strength can appear as optimism or moral courage). Some discussions are abstract, others particular, as in an analysis of the courage of Martin Luther King. The positive psychological effects of gratitude, helpfulness, altruism are discussed as is the "love of the other" allophilia, a term coined to replace the less positive "tolerance." Adversity is defined not just in terms of major disasters such as fire and flood, but life alterations like ending a relationship or being fired. The final volume presents examples of what makes people flourish emotionally. While the articles are arranged in themes, individual chapters could be used alone to address particular situations. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Poverty in America; an encyclopedia.
For general readers, Russell Lawson (history, Bacone College) and Benjamin Lawson, who is working on a Ph.D. in recent American and urban social history at the U. of Iowa, present entries on the history of poverty in America from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century, including places; events; early American poor relief; federal relief programs, policies, and agencies such as No Child Left Behind; the poverty of specific groups; trends and events such as the Depression, protest movements, and slavery; reformers like Jane Addams; relief organizations; theories; and writings such as The Grapes of Wrath. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
