Alien Encounters

November 1, 2012

Gr 7-9-Overall, Webb handles his subjects with aplomb. Though the titles focus largely on eye-witness accounts, they also provide contrasting opinions from scientists and others who make it their business to debunk legends and myths. Sidebars contain information and anecdotes that complement the main texts as well as entries that ask students to ponder the likelihood of supernatural places and creatures. For example, Bigfoot raises the question, "Did Ray Wallace Fake All the Bluff Creek Footprints?" The two volumes on aliens are the most thought-provoking, in part due to their narrow scope. A few minor errors-the year being left out of accounts in Alien and UFOs, and a graphic display mistake in Alien-are not as serious as an oversight in Atlantis, which offers no counterpoint to the idea that cultures in the Americas may have had civilization brought to them by white people from Atlantis. Nonetheless, the writing is engaging and the topics creepy and entertaining.

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