With a heavy emphasis on STEM and engaging trivia, this well-designed title is a quality introduction to the basics of electricity. Van Vleet puts humankind's fascination with electricity in historical context and briefly discusses our dependency on electrical energy. Circuits, electromagnetism, batteries, and lightning are all topics explored in informational text with embedded experimental projects. Each project provides a list of easily obtained materials and a procedure clearly delineated step-by-step. Readers are encouraged to record scientific findings in their own science journal template is provided for applying the scientific method. Practical advice for understanding horsepower and mitigating static electricity makes the book's content relevant and accessible, while unfamiliar words are defined both in the sidebars and in a glossary. An appealing resource on a timely topic, this encourages young readers to think critically about the marvels that occur around them every day.

Gr 4-8 This entry into an already populated field provides an introduction that goes beyond the usual to include compact fluorescent lights, diodes, semiconductors, transformers, breaker panels, commutators, and capacitors. The six chapters cover "Static Electricity," "Currents," "Circuits," "Electromagnetism," "Motors and Generators," and "Earth-Friendly Electricity." A time line introduces the title and each chapter includes historical references and several activities-mostly boilerplate. While the book's scope is broader than most comparable titles, the explanations can be skimpy and obtuse. Stone's black-and-white diagrams are plentiful but the lack of labels to clarify the concepts is problematic. Beginners will be better served by Matt Mullin's Electricity or Susan H. Gray's Experiments With Electricity (both Scholastic, 2011), Robert Gardner's Electricity and Magnetism (Enslow, 2010) or the more detailed explanations in Shar Levine and Leslie Johnstone's Shocking Science (Sterling, 1999 o.p.). Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI