Elections A to Z

Gr 6 Up–This invaluable resource on the history and process of U.S. national elections supersedes the 2008 edition by updating its many charts, tables, and chronologies; adding whole articles (“Tea Party”); and revising preexisting entries to encompass significant developments such as the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. The approximately 225 alphabetically arranged articles cover topics from “Absentee Voting” and “Electoral Behavior” to “Beauty Contest” and “Scandals”; they also offer separate entries on black, women’s, and youth suffrage. Entries feature at least one small black-and-white photo or other illustration; multiple cross references; and, often, breakout quotes. The prose is journalistic in style, with some editorial insertions–most notably in the final article, “ZZZ,” which is an analysis of voter apathy with a pointed sidebar passage from JFK’s “Ask Not…” speech. The electoral process is the chief focus here; there are no biographical articles or, aside from one short disquisition on “Ideology,” any general surveys or studies of political philosophy. Nonetheless, capped by a large documentary and tabular “Reference Material” section and a comprehensive index, this remains a first-rate, richly detailed picture of this country’s glorious, if not always rational, electoral system.-–John Peters, Children’s Literature Consultant, New York City