Carl Edwards

Gr 2–5—Using a combination of basic biographical information and lots of career analysis, these biographies profile eight drivers. The splashy, chaotic design is sometimes distracting, and the white text on black background on some of the pages can be hard to read. In addition, paragraph blocks are used to present information, so it's often difficult to differentiate between the "Fast Fact" text boxes and the actual narrative. The large, full-color photos will please fans, but also sometimes take up a lot of space without necessarily adding anything to the narratives. Readers might get lost in the racecar jargon-the fact that the glossary words are not differentiated throughout the texts does not help. With sentences such as "Then Busch wrecked another driver on purpose at a truck race," it's hard to understand why some of these stars are considered "heroes." This one's only for libraries with truly committed racing fans.