Terrorism (Understanding Issues)

From School Library Journal Grade 4-6-Divided into four sections, the book begins with reactions to the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, followed by history and information about some of the causes and goals of terrorists. Other chapters concern the effects of terrorism both direct, such as death and destruction, and secondary, such as fear and suspicion. The final section discusses the difficulty of fighting terrorist acts and methods employed to try to prevent them. Unfortunately, Stewart's attempt to present the information in an easily understood, impartial manner results in simplifications and generalizations that weaken the impact of the text. The author sums up the complex Northern Ireland situation as "Many people in Northern Ireland want their independence from Great Britain. However, many others prefer being ruled by Britain." While this is not untrue, it hardly gives a vivid picture of the situation. Broad statements such as "People should not ever have to worry about such horrible things happening ever again" and "-it is a war that must be won" sound more like campaign rhetoric than information that will lead to "Understanding Issues." The color photographs are of reasonably good quality but they also may reinforce negative stereotypes. Although the author mentions terrorists of many backgrounds, the only Muslim images presented are of a masked gunman waving a flag of Islamic Jihad, an FBI wanted poster, and a very unsympathetic looking Iranian-American victim of vandalism. While pedestrian, this offering will be useful to collections needing material on the topic.