Jesse Jackson

June 1, 1990
Gr 5-8- -Four readable, fast-moving biographies. All are well-written and objective, pointing out the weaknesses as well as the considerable strengths of their subjects. Each contains a few photographs and a bibliography (of mostly adult books), but lacks an index or chronology of events. Thomas Edison covers his entire life but is mostly concerned with the years preceding his development of the incandescent light bulb. Mintz presents Edison as a genius whose single-minded obsession with his work caused him to be a difficult person to live and work with at times. By describing the more colorful aspects of his personality, the book is more interesting than Lampton's Thomas Alva Edison (Watts, 1988), but it lacks the numerous photographs that grace Lampton's book. Both Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King, Jr. describe the social climate that produced the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s. Otfinoski includes Jackson's controversial remarks during the presidential campaign and his friendship with Black Muslim Louis Farrakhan, but shows him as a gifted and complex man of vision and character. Quayle's Martin Luther King, Jr., while less impressive than Jakoubek's Martin Luther King, Jr. (Chelsea, 1989), is an acceptable book that can help meet the demand for biographies about King. Amelia Earhart stresses Earhart's feminism and compassion. While presenting the various theories about her disappearance, Sloate seems to favor the idea that Earhart was taken prisoner by the Japanese and possibly that she survived to live a quiet life with another identity. Such speculation makes fascinating reading, but some may favor the more cautious approach of Lauber's Lost Star (Scholastic, 1988), which also contains superior photographs and a much-needed map. All of the authors have succeeded in conveying the forceful personalities of their subjects as well as describing their achievements and places in modern history. -Jean H. Zimmerman, Willett School, South River, NJ