The Attack on Pearl Harbor

Gr 6–8—These books open with a "Setting the Scene" introduction, followed by four chapters that provide background and describe the most important aspects of the conflicts, a large "What Happened Where" map, and a "The Story Continues" conclusion that places the conflict into historical context. Font size is large, with most pages having only one or two paragraphs of text, which limits background and detail. Benoit includes both military and general history, discussing the causes and main events of the wars and touches on prejudice and discrimination on the home front. He is generally objective, but does equate the anti-Muslim feelings that followed 2001 with the more severe anti-Japanese sentiment that resulted in the internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. Large period photos are appealing and well integrated with the text. Sidebars profile leaders, provide additional information about text topics, and describe global reactions to events and contemporary perspectives about both conflicts. "Firsthand Look" sidebars direct students to well-chosen print and media files on Scholastic's website. Although these books are attractive introductions, their brevity restricts the amount of information that can be included and they don't improve on many extant titles, such as Steve White's graphic history Pearl Harbor: A Day in Infamy (Rosen, 2007) and Stuart A. P. Murray's Eyewitness Vietnam War (DK, 2005), making them supplementary purchases.—Mary Mueller, Rolla Public Schools, MO