Alcohol Abuse

Gr 9 Up—While unflinching in content, this series is not gloom-and-doom in tone. Report writers and, more importantly, teens who may need a starting place for confronting a crisis will not be turned off by attempts to scare them straight or preach to them. Instead, Marsico gives abundant, solid information. The titles are effectively organized, starting with thorough descriptions of the subjects/problems, which are followed by their mental, physical, emotional, and social impacts and realistic means for surmounting them. The main texts are supplemented with personal anecdotes and meaningful statistics; they conclude with noteworthy documentations of sources and suggestions for further reading. This series is a standout because it's factual without being clinical and compelling without being maudlin.