Gays in the Military Cosmetic Surgery

Gr 10 Up—Gays in the Military addresses "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), the policy that bans gay men and women from serving openly in the armed forces. The book covers attitudes toward gays in the military, how DADT affects the military, and how the U.S. government and other countries handle the issue. The viewpoints were written between January 9, 2007, and June 4, 2010. Each chapter includes an editor's note stating that President Obama repealed the ban on December 22, 2010. Although compiled before the repeal, this book provides much useful information. As the military readies to transition to open service, readers will see if any of the dire predictions made by opponents of the repeal come to pass. Cosmetic Surgery discusses liposuction, rhinoplasty, and breast augmentation, as well as nonsurgical procedures like Botox injections. With money seemingly the only obstacle to achieving the perfect you, this book helps students go beyond the media hype and weigh the complicated social, psychological, and medical issues behind cosmetic surgery. Readers will be intrigued by the concerns that the same procedures used for reconstructive surgery are deemed vain and excessive when performed for purely aesthetic purposes. The Culture of Beauty (Gale, 2009), compiled by the same editor, examines society's obsession with beauty, including the impact of cosmetic surgery. Both of these new titles offer challenging and absorbing insight into complex topics. Strong additions to high school collections.—June Shimonishi, Torrance Public Library, CA