From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9-Hasday presents three- to four-page profiles of Hollywood luminaries from Charlie Chaplin to Audrey Hepburn to Halle Berry. A smattering of topical entries is included, such as "Evolution of the Motion Picture" and "Grandeur on the Big Screen," but they seem out of place in a collective biography. A section called "Mentionables" is appended, but no explanation is given as to why the people in it did not merit full treatment. The information within each entry is accurate, but it is readily available online or in a Current Biography (H.W. Wilson) entry. The list of Web sites pertaining to film-related organizations includes, curiously, one devoted to Alfred Hitchcock. Why he is singled out is not explained, and it would have been useful to have a list of Web sites pertaining to all of the people profiled. An acceptable, but not essential, purchase.
Ronni Krasnow, New York Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
This title, part of the Extraordinary People series for upper-elementary- and middle-school readers, offers short biographies of outstanding individuals, historical as well as contemporary. As in any assemblage of this type, readers may question the exclusion or inclusion of certain personalities. However, the authors have succeeded in providing a range of nationalities, occupations, age groups, and gender. In addition to the biographical content, a few brief essay-type articles cover related topics and issues such as "Can Oscar Become Color-Blind?" and "Evolution of the Motion Picture."The volume contains biographical entries arranged chronologically by the biographee's birth date and topical entries interspersed among the biographies. Entries average four pages and feature short sentences, an explanation of unfamiliar words within the text, easily read fonts, and lots of white space. Each biography begins with a photograph of the subject, birth and death dates, and occupation or brief description. The table of contents consists of thumbnail photos with the same information. The short bibliography, with most copyrights in the 1990s, includes a number of titles above the level of the targeted audience. Readers will also find a list of organizations and Web sites and "Mentionables," a listing of additional people with single-paragraph biographies.
The biographies do not contain much in-depth information, offering little more than a recitation of the subject's childhood, marriage(s), film credits, and awards. Information in the themed articles is also quite superficial but might serve to spark the reader's interest to look further.
The intended audience will enjoy browsing through this volumes but will not find much useful information apart from trivia. It will not replace more in-depth biographical resources but could serve as a jumping-off point for further research. RBB
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About the Author
Hasday, a native of Philadelphia, PA, received her B.A. in communications and her Ed.M. in instructional technologies from Temple University.
