School Library Journal Review

YA-An informed discussion of the repercussions that result from acting out judgments based on characteristics of race, religion, history, or sexual orientation that are different from one's own. The more than two dozen texts are culled from recent issues of The New Republic and the Village Voice; classic essays by John Dewey, Edward Wilson, and Gordon Allport; the writings of contemporary academics such as Cornel West and Martha Nussbaum; and the dockets of the U.S. Supreme Court. Many of the situations mentioned are recent, including the killing of gay college student Matthew Shepard, the incendiary trial of the Los Angeles police charged with beating Rodney King, and the events at Columbine High School in April 1999. The passages reprinted from Dewey, Allport, and Sartre are cohesive and accessible to students who have not read in the fields of philosophy or psychology. While there is no index to the volume, high school readers will find it helpful for research-paper writing and many will also read it because they are motivated by personal interest in the topic.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.