Online Social Networking

This series is an all-in-one resource for teens’ research needs in an easy to read, magazine-like layout style. Each book contains a primary source quote section, and a key people and advocacy group section, as well as a chronology, and a related organizations section. Having such a well-balanced amount of various research outlets in one book is a great way to introduce students to research basics. The illustrations, maps, charts and graphs will help foster and reinforce comprehension. Also, the user-friendly style is visually appealing while reinforcing comprehension. Each section contains colorful pull-quotes, which helps the reader gain interest in the reading. Reluctant readers will appreciate the compact size, easy-to-read content and pop culture references. This research series contains good overall coverage of each topic as the current, past, present, and future of issues are discussed, as well as controversial issues with each topic. In Genetic Testing, family planning, using DNA to catch criminals, privacy issues, diseases, and personalized medicine are discussed. In The Death Penalty, methods of execution, deterrence effect, gender and race biases, the mentally ill, and the challenges with the Constitution and the death penalty are discussed. In Online Social Networking, privacy issues, sexting, addiction to social networking, and bullying and regulation vs. freedom of speech are discussed. This series is well rounded in the issues it discusses and visually appealing to its readers. It would be a great addition for school and public libraries.—Julia Bowersox.

Each title in the Compact Research: Current Issues series gives young researchers a good beginning point in examining controversial subjects, using a lively style and real-life stories to keep interest along the way. Each title begins with an “…at a Glance” look at its topic, within which it defines terms and outlines subtopics. The books then flesh out each subtopic, providing plenty of statistics presented visually along with pages filled with quotes. Opposing points of view are bracketed together for easy contrast. Gangs looks at the different types of gangs, such as street and military, why young people join them, and whether or not they can be stopped. Genetic Testing supplies information about the genetic diseases revealed by testing, the reasons for those tests, and how results might be used in both positive and negative ways. The statistics in Online Social Networking about sites like Facebook and LinkedIn will quickly become out of date in such a fast-moving field, but the background information on subjects like cyberbullying and sexting will probably stay pertinent for a while. Copious back matter in each volume includes lists of significant people, contact information for organizations, a well-rounded resource list, source notes, a time line, and an index.

Each title in the Compact Research: Current Issues series gives young researchers a good beginning point in examining controversial subjects, using a lively style and real-life stories to keep interest along the way. Each title begins with an “. . . at a Glance” look at its topic, within which it defines terms and outlines subtopics. The books then flesh out each subtopic, providing plenty of statistics presented visually along with pages filled with quotes. Opposing points of view are bracketed together for easy contrast. Gangs looks at the different types of gangs, such as street and military, why young people join them, and whether or not they can be stopped. Genetic Testing supplies information about the genetic diseases revealed by testing, the reasons for those tests, and how results might be used in both positive and negative ways. The statistics in Online Social Networking about sites like Facebook and LinkedIn will quickly become out of date in such a fast-moving field, but the background information on subjects like cyberbullying and sexting will probably stay pertinent for a while. Copious back matter in each volume includes lists of significant people, contact information for organizations, a well-rounded resource list, source notes, a time line, and an index. —Susan Dove Lempke