At Issue Series - Is Media Violence a Problem? (paperback edition) - Hardcover

"The topic is intriguing, and the generally vehement tome of the selections provides much for students to ponder and debate."
-- Booklist (Febraury 2003) (Booklist 20030201)

"This book is great for debate material or as a writing prompt for persuasive essays. This collection is for mature readers with the critical-thinking skills needed to understand and evaluate the materials."
-- School Library Journal (August 2002) (School Library Journal 20020801)

"The book should prove useful for research papers or debates. This is a reasoned and relatively neutral treatment."
-- School Library Journal (July 2002) (School Library Journal 20020701)

"Contributors include doctors, psychiatrists, and members of activist groups...Arguments, which are accompanied by references are well presented and occasionally quite riveting. Lots of opinion and information worth further examination."
-- Booklist (June 2002) (Booklist 20020615)

"A wealth of diagrams and illustrations helps clarify the procedures and principles essential to understanding the discussions."
-- School Library Journal (June 2002) (School Library Journal 20020601)

"Throughout this text keeps arguments even-tempered, information straightforward, and details unsensationalized."
-- Booklist (May 2002) (Booklist 20020515)

"Greenhaven's anthologies provide pertinent, original source material for researchers who are interested in varied perpectives on controversial topics. Most middle and high school libraries have books in their collections that deal with these issues, but few do so in such a clearly differentiatied, balanced manner. These slim volumes...complement and balance books that purport to deal with the topics in general or that present only one viewpoint. Recommended."
-- The Book Report (March-April 2002) (Book Report 20020401)

"Among the books many strengths is its inclusion of diverse, opinionated essayists who come from many professions and have varying expertise."
-- Booklist (April 2001) (Booklist 20010401)

"For readers who prefer to know both sides of a perspective, Greenhaven Press presents a new series - At Issue. Experts offer their opinions on controversial subjects facing our society today. The At Issue series is for the discerning reader. If you want to be well versed and understanding on a specific topic, this series will open your mind on the many sides of an issue."
-- Eclectic Book Reviews (January-April 2001) (UNKNOWN 20010401)

"Collection of starkly personal essays...First person accounts then take readers on some startling and intimate journeys. A few essays are more analytical...Some are impassioned views...In all cases, the writers include vivid details and some eye-opening viewpoints."
-- Booklist (March 2001) (Booklist 20010315)

Grade 8 Up-Brief essays highlight major arguments surrounding the portrayal of violence in the popular media. Eight of the 13 selections from news services, periodicals, books, and Senate testimony proclaim media violence's harmful effects on children and young adults. The remaining five essays do not defend violence as beneficial, but state that claims of its potential damage are exaggerated. All articles included were published between 1999 and 2001, making this a compilation of current opinion. The selections pay more attention to video games and "gangsta" rap than Carol Wekesser's Violence in the Media (1995; o.p.) and William Dudley's Media Violence (1999, both Greenhaven). Judicious use of white space, boldface headings, and pull quotes break up large blocks of text, making this one of the more visually inviting volumes on this controversial subject. Its annotated listing of "Organizations to Contact" shares only one quarter of its entries with that in Media Violence. A fine index and a bibliography offering equal numbers of recent books and periodical articles make this relatively slim volume meatier than it first appears to be.
Ann G. Brouse, Steele Memorial Library, Elmira, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.