From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up–Timely and practical, this title offers students a clear explanation of plagiarism and its consequences as well as specific ways to avoid it. A historical perspective describes how borrowing ideas was an accepted practice until the first copyright laws followed the invention of the printing press. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Coleridge, and Longfellow were known to have taken plots and stories from their predecessors. Captioned photographs and text excerpts are shown for more recent plagiarists such as Blair Hornstine, the student journalist whose admission to Harvard was revoked; Senator Joseph Biden, who borrowed words for a campaign speech; and Jayson Blair, whose New York Times articles were created from another reporter's work. Other chapters address cheating, Internet downloading, fabrication, and how teachers curb plagiarism. Two valuable chapters focus on temptations to plagiarize and how to avoid them. Specifically, students are guided to develop organizational skills, to value their own work, and to practice paraphrasing techniques. The author creates a positive and constructive tone by empathizing with school pressures and time constraints, and helping readers understand the importance of developing an individual voice and honest value system. A must-have for middle and high school libraries.–Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
