Criminal Justice

For upper level middle school students and above, as well as general readers, this three-volume reference offers 625 alphabetically-arranged articles on the "six C's" at the core of the subject: criminals (who they are and what they do); codes (laws and legislation); constitutions (the foundations, including Supreme Court cases); cops (who they are and what they do); courts; and corrections. Each entry begins with a definition and a summary of issues and significance, and ends with references and cross references. Editor Gerstenfeld (California State University, Stanislaus) and 300 contributors prepared the work. About one-quarter of the articles are picked up from Salem Press's American Justice and Magill's Legal Guide; the emphasis in the new materials is on developments in the field, particularly forensics and crime scene investigation. B&w photos and charts and diagrams are sprinkled throughout. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)