Amazon.com Review
Today's young people are not only interested in money, they're quite knowledgeable about it--which is apparently what happens when you mix computer know-how with full employment and parents who play the market. Most, however, still require some assistance as they begin to build their nest eggs. Janet Bamford's
Street Wise: A Guide for Teen Investors fits this bill nicely because it assembles virtually everything these budding financiers need, and presents it in language they understand. Bamford addresses the market's operation, full-service versus discount brokers, taxes, investment clubs and games, and even the possibility of a Wall Street career. Her best advice concerns stocks and mutual funds and is again delivered in a relevant, complete, and thoroughly noncondescending manner. "A stock is to a mutual fund," she writes at one point, in a style familiar to her audience, "as: (a) a can of soda is to a six pack, (b) the Dallas Cowboys are to the NFL, (c) a kitten is to a dog, (d) a flower is to a garden." The answer, by the way, is (d). Bamford also discusses specific kid-friendly investment vehicles, as well as the initial fiscal forays of high-fliers like
thestreet.com's James Cramer.
--Howard Rothman
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-This well-written primer offers more real-life stories of wise (and not-so-wise) investors than other titles. Bamford begins with the basics: "Stock Market 101," provides many sidebars with definitions and attention-getting examples, and moves right into choosing stocks in which to invest. Her clear prose and conversational manner will both interest and reassure readers that they, too, can act successfully in this sometimes-intimidating arena. Like most responsible advisors, the author stresses that teenagers have the advantage of time to wait out market ups and downs, and should therefore look for long-term investments rather than high-flying "sure things." She devotes much space to evaluating mutual funds, and suggests learning by joining investment clubs, playing stock-market simulation games, and investigating resources found on the Internet. Unfortunately there are no illustrations to draw reader interest, limiting the book's appeal to those who seriously want to make money. For those readers, the author does a fine job. Jay Liebowitz's Wall Street Wizard (S & S, 2000) provides much the same advice in more teen-oriented language, but Bamford's bibliography covers the basics better. Libraries owning Marion Rendon and Rachel Kranz's standard on the topic, Straight Talk about Money (Facts On File, 1992), will want to update their collections with Street Wise.-Jonathan Betz-Zall, City University Library, Everett, WA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.