Scholastic encyclopedia of the United States

Scholastic has produced two lightweight but appealing volumes that should be popular with the elementary and middle-school crowds. The first, Encyclopedia of Sports in the United States, is an overview that takes a chronological approach to the history of American sports. Eight chapters profiling historical periods follow a similar format. An introductory essay, usually two or three pages long, introduces developments in sports, society, and culture and is then followed by individual biographies of various sports personalities who define that era. Biographical entries range from one column to several pages, and feature black-and-white photographs and "Career Capsule" boxed inserts. Each chapter also includes special feature articles on representative events, such as the Black Sox scandal of 1919, the league expansions of the 1950s and 1960s, the founding of the Special Olympics in 1968, and the escalating salaries and lucrative endorsement opportunities of the 1990s. The final chapter, "Prime Time: Television Brings Big Dollars to Sports," profiles megastars such as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, as well as physically challenged celebrities such as wheelchair athlete Sharon Hendrick, blind mountain climber Peter Rowley, paralyzed skier Chris Widely, and Olympian Gail Deavers, who overcame Graves' disease. More than 30 percent of the 100 profiled athletes are women. The attractive oversize format features a double-column page spread. The print is sufficiently large, and the text portions are interspersed with numerous photos and inserts so as to be accessible to younger or lower-level readers as well as limited English-proficient students. This resource is custom made for students researching individual celebrities or events. Those seeking information on the development of certain sports will need to consult the index to track down information scattered throughout the volume. The abbreviated coverage of some topics is comparable to entries found in standard encyclopedias. Native American sports are covered in three paragraphs here; World Book has five paragraphs on recreation in Indian, American. There are several sports biography collections with more extensive coverage aimed at this age group: The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions, 6th ed. (Frontier, 1993), Omnigraphics' Biography Today Sport Series, and the Sports Stars series from UXL, among others. A more comprehensive history for a slightly older audience (middle and high school) is Ralph Hickok's Encyclopedia of North American Sports History [RBB F 15 92]. The Scholastic offering suffers from uneven coverage (half the book is devoted to the past 40 years) and omissions (there is not a single reference to hockey; Tiger Woods is not included). However, despite these drawbacks, sports are a perennially hot topic in most schools. This reasonably priced browser's delight is sure to attract attention. In Encyclopedia of the United States, two-page spreads on each state (plus American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) feature text in the interior region of each page and highlighted data blocks along the outer edges. The first page edge offers "The Basics" (population, area, capital, nicknames, motto, state parks, festivals, and so on) and a small map; the second provides "Fascinating Facts": firsts, mosts, bests, outdated laws, how cities or states got their names, and famous people. This information varies from state to state but almost always includes tidbits that are sure to catch the attention of young researchers. The interior text portions cover history, geography, and industry and feature a number of small black-and-white photos. The state articles are followed by a 2-page map of the entire U.S., a 12-page state-by-state listing of places to visit, and an 8-page annotated bibliography of fiction and nonfiction titles, divided by state and offering a mix of juvenile and adult selections. Most of this information is available in encyclopedias