Voices for Freedom

Gr 6–8—Text-heavy volumes roughly outline various protest movements, mainly focusing on the United States but occasionally branching out internationally. The narratives tend to jump around in time and require careful reading (Freedom leaps from ancient Rome to Colonial America). There are a few inaccurate statements peppered throughout ("Communism is the form of government practiced by the Russians."). In addition, the lack of potentially key information in Environment is noticeable; for example, the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is not mentioned in the chapter on nuclear weapons/power; more time is spent examining the "possible pollution" of the Standing Rock protestors than of the Dakota Access Pipeline itself; and though the book ends in 2017, President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement is not discussed. Equality is the most organized and readable of the bunch, and large collections may want to consider it.