Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Sixties in America Reference Library. By Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast. Detroit: U*X*L, 2005. 3 vol. 660 p. $165.00. ISBN 0-7876-9249-2.

This is a good guide to Baby Boomers.

Research in these volumes may help Generation Z students understand their parents and grandparents who are part of the Baby Boomers and came to adulthood in the Sixties. The hippie counterculture and its creation of new music and art brought an entirely new culture. The Beatles, antiwar protests, a walk on the moon and the civil rights movement were integral to this period of intense change and disruption in the U.S. Each of the three volumes begins with the same reader's guide, a 15-page timeline of events and a six-page glossary. All have black-and-white illustrations. These follow the same pattern as others in this publisher's Reference Library with almanac, biographies and primary sources. A cumulative index is available to help students locate information across all three volumes. The vocabulary could be read by upper middle school students. Recommended for middle and high school collections.

Sixties in America: Almanac. Detroit: U*X*L, 2005. 1 vol. 229 p. $60.00 ISBN 0-7876-9246-8.

Kennedy's dreams for a better society were cut short by his assassination, and Johnson's Great Society was halted by the Vietnam War. The antiwar movement and the civil rights controversies brought unrest to the nation. Forty years after women had won the right to vote, a new movement sought to earn them more equality in their lives. Perhaps the greatest loss from this decade was the loss of faith and the beginnings of mistrust in government officials. Teachers will find research and activity ideas in the front matter of this volume. Each chapter ends with a list of books and Web sites to find further information. This will be a helpful book to gather information about the society of this time period.

Sixties in America: Biographies. Detroit: U*X*L, 2005. 1 vol. 204 p. $60.00 ISBN 0-7876-9247-6.

Twenty-six persons presented here include profiles of Muhammad Ali, Mary Kay Ash, Rachel Caron, Walter Cronkite, Bob Dylan, Betty Friedan, Barry Goldwater, Berry Gordy, Jr., Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Dolores Huerta, Lyndon B. Johnson, Frances Oldham Kelsey, John F. Kennedy, Ken Kesey, Martin Luther King, Jr., Timothy Leary, Vince Lombardi, Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, Malcolm X, Ralph Nader, Richard Oakes, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, The Smothers Brothers and Andy Warhol. It would be interesting to give student this list and ask them to identify the names. Few will know any of them. While more extensive information could be found in other places, the placement of these persons in this decade identifies their major accomplishments as a part of this tumultuous time.

Sixties in America: Primary Sources. Detroit: U*X*L, 2005. 1 vol. 240 p. $60.00 ISBN 0-7876-9248-4.

Primary documents are divided into subject specific chapters, "The Struggle for Civil Rights," "Feminist Perspectives," "The War in Vietnam," "The Antiwar Movement," "The Times They Are a Changin'" and "Debating the Power of Television." Articles within chapters end with a lit of books, periodical articles and Web sites. Sidebars have definitions and articles end with "What happened next…," "Did you Know…," "Consider the following…" and a bibliography of books, periodicals and Web sites. A three-page bibliography is found as an appendix.