Whistle-Blowers: Exposing Crime and Corruption

Gr 5 Up—This book looks at the most famous cases of whistle-blowing in the recent past. Doeden starts off by examining what kinds of protections have been put in place over time to help protect whistle-blowers from potential threats to their jobs or personal safety. Each chapter includes a different whistle-blower, such as W. Mark Felt, aka Deep Throat; Jeffrey Wigand, who exposed the risks of tobacco and nicotine; Kathryn Bolkovac, who outed sex trafficking within the UN Peacekeeping Corps; Mike McQueary, a key witness in the Penn State child sex abuse; and Edward Snowden, who exposed the extensive surveillance by the National Security Agency. Because the author presents the cases from the perspectives of the whistle-blowers themselves, the book is somewhat biased in their favor, though there are some sidebars that present other views of the story (particularly with Snowden). Full-color photographs abound, and each image is well captioned, with additional information not found elsewhere in the chapter. There are also brief introductions to related films and books. At under 100 pages, the book is a little light for the intended audience, but there are few other works that cover this topic. A useful purchase.—Heather Massa, East Rockaway Public Library, NY