November 1, 2015
Gr 5-8-The eight unusual jobs in this high-interest, low-complexity series are bound to draw the attention of readers. Sidebars containing professional lingo and quirky facts, such as how fishermen perform acupuncture on fish destined to become sushi, add amusing details, and recognizable pop culture references (the NBA's Dwyane Wade, SyFy's hit TV show Ghost Hunters) make the books even more relatable. Unfortunately, these elements are not enough to overcome the series' many flaws. Short sentences three-to-five words in length make the text choppy, not only resulting in a lack of flow but also oversimplifying the subjects. Sentence fragments ("He works on live shows. So he can't make mistakes."), exaggeration ("Most Americans love baseball."), errors, and missteps are scattered throughout the series; most egregious is a photo of German soldiers huddled around an Enigma machine during World War II with the caption "Ethical hackers can help win wars." VERDICT Although the subjects are intriguing, the execution is flawed. Skip these.
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