School Library Journal
Gr 2-4 This series of biographies profiles the lives of
contemporary celebrities, purporting to demonstrate that, by
having goals and striving to reach them, the people under
discussion reached their levels of success. Written on a
level just above that of an easy reader, each biography
follows the same basic format: subjects are introduced with
the goals that formed their lives (Jackson's desire for
equal rights, Smith's desire to discover the reasons behind
the hostility between the U. S. and the USSR); the events of
their lives are described in 21 pages, half-filled with
illustrations painfully amateur in their execution; and a
2-page outline called ``Reaching Your Goal'' concludes the
text. Even if one were to accept the premise that firmly
didactic biographies are still valid additions to library
collections for children, these are so poorly written and so
badly illustrated that they do not meet this long-discardedone
hopesgoal. The more valid need for biographies on a primary
level is also defeated by this kind of paste-up of dates,
broad statements, and unsubstantiated impressions. The
subjects of these biographies are worthy of profile, but
neither they nor those interested in them are served by this
completely undistinguished series. Christine Behrmann, New
York Public Library
