The Alternative Rock Scene

Gr 6-Up There is always great interest in any aspect of popular music among middle and high school students. Generally, it centers on favorite performers, how the music is created and how it evolved, and careers in the field. These three books attempt to address all of these issues and more. Each one is clearly written, well organized, and copiously illustrated with full-color photographs of noted performers. All of them are good starting points for readers who know absolutely nothing about the genre featured. And this is where the problem arises. The presentations are simplistic to a fault, so that one must question the intended audience. Teenagers, a natural readership, would already know everything in these books. They would know special terms. Their search for in-depth information about the music itself, its performers, and its inner workings would start, quite naturally, with the Internet. There they can find Web sites dedicated to the music, to performers, and to careers, making these sorts of books superfluous. Still, should a library want to provide print sources for readers, these books do touch on many aspects of the current music scene."Carol Jones Collins, Hanover Park High School, East Hanover, NJ" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.