From School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up-In clear and well-balanced prose, Sonder presents all sides of a highly emotional topic. In addition to the well-known story of how Darwin's ideas were developed into the widely supported theory of evolution, he shows how various Christians reacted. The author clearly differentiates a range of creationist theories, from "creation science," which strictly interprets the Bible wording, to the "old-earth creationist," which acknowledges that the Earth is much older than is indicated in Genesis and accepts the fossil record as partly true, and others in between. His evenhanded accounts of various scientific battles cover events up to the present day, including recent presidential campaigns and discussions on the Internet. He concludes with the hope that sensationalism will eventually fade away in favor of scholarship, and provides a list of basic points of disagreement for students to ponder. The few black-and-white illustrations are well selected, well captioned, and well keyed to the text. Marilyn Bailey's Evolution (Greenhaven, 1990; o.p.), Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, and Laura Silverstein Nunn's Evolution (21st Century, 1998), and Linda Gamlin's Evolution (DK, 1993) have much better graphics and more detailed explanations of evolution but provide very little history of the controversies. Sonder's well-balanced treatment is unlikely to completely satisfy either creationists or scientists, but it will stir those who find the controversy interesting to pursue further reading.-Jonathan Betz-Zall, Sno-Isle Regional Library System, Edmonds, WA
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