Breast Cancer: ISBN 978-1-60152-548-2 / ebook: 978-1-60152-549-9
Concussions: ISBN 978-1-60152-512-3 / ebook: 978-1-60152-513-0
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: ISBN 978-1-60152-608-3 / ebook: 978-1-60152-609-0
Voya, December 1, 2014

Recognizing the information avalanche that society faces, this series, with six subsets covering topics from current issues to teenage problems, provides a researcher with a general understanding of a topic. A thumbnail reference opens each volume. An overview provides context for subsequent chapters which concern definition, cause, cure and/or prevention, and combine medical language, personal stories, and common comparisons to explain the disease. These explanation chapters include lists of out-of-context quotations that represent a variety of opinions, and each speaker’s credentials are included. Colorful graphs illustrate statistical information. Some listed “facts” could be considered inferences rather than checkable reports. Extensive print and non-print sources listed at the back of the book, as well as contact information for “Related Organizations,” and lists of outstanding experts in the field provide ample follow-up sources. Breast Cancer suggests a healthy lifestyle but concludes that everyone is vulnerable. Concussions campaigns for a more serious consideration of the injury. Sexually Transmitted Diseases maintains that the best defense against infection is lifestyle. Complex structure, technical language, sophisticated graphics, and extensive references make these volumes challenging reads even though the objective is to simplify. The lexile scores range from 1280 to 1310. The suggestions of websites and organizations to contact make more recent research available. The danger lies in using the volumes to cherry-pick shortcuts rather than as springboards, but both students and adults will find the series to be a useful resource.