Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

The Right to Die, by Anne Wallace Sharp. 120 pp. . Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books. ISBN: 978-1-59018-834-7. $32.45.

Volumes in Lucent’s Hot Topics series, aimed at students grades 7 through 10, are an excellent introduction to research about controversial issues. Unlike the more sophisticated Opposing Viewpoints titles, these are mediated entirely by a single author, with the purpose of presenting competing viewpoints fairly. After an introduction that explains the concept of the right to die, this volume presents a history of attitudes toward death, dying and the dying process. The first chapter provides overviews of religious and sectarian ideas about death and notes the evolution of attitudes influenced by medical technologies and a greater public awareness of the dying process. Chapters on euthanasia, assisted suicide, refusal of medical treatment and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment follow, each presenting competing viewpoints that touch on religion, ethics, medical advances and the individual and social costs of policies dealing with the right to die. Sidebars in each chapter provide additional compelling information, including a review of the stages of grief based on Kübler-Ross’s model, a description of cryonics and the movement supporting it and cases in which patients recovered after doctors had told families there was no hope. As with other volumes in the series, this one includes a set of discussion questions to keep readers focused on each chapter’s key ideas; also included are an annotated list of relevant organizations, a two-page annotated bibliography and a subject index. Highly recommended for middle school and high school libraries.