Coast Guard

October 1, 2010
Grades 4-7 Books in the Becoming a Soldier series show how new recruits are trained to become members of the U.S. armed forces. After an initial double-page spread involving a fire drill and another introducing a particular enlistee, this volume follows a busload of recruits during their arrival at the Coast Guard Training Center in New Jersey, their placement into companies, their physical conditioning, their education and hands-on training (navigation, first aid, knot tying, guns, swimming), their testing, and their graduation. Company commanders are shown yelling at recruits, while the text explains their purpose in doing so. A few women appear in the photos, and the text makes clear that they are eligible for all jobs in the Coast Guard. Back matter includes brief bibliographies, a glossary, and a page on preparing for a career in the service. With fairly large print, plenty of color photos, and more space devoted to illustrations than to text, the book offers a quick, attractive introduction to the subject.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2011
Busy photos dominate this series that introduces readers to American military forces. Each superficial text begins with descriptions of hypothetical scenarios, then discusses training and education offered by each service, and ends with a one-page summary of candidate requirements. However, the differences among the services are not clearly delineated. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)