Introducing Issues With (Opposing Viewpoints)
Gangs
Barbour, ed.
2006
Gangs
Issues That Concern You
Daniels
2008
Submitter: There was a post on an old weed-worthy gang series title a couple of years ago (https://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com/?p=890). Neither of these are old – one is dated 2006, the other 2008, so I’m not weeding either of them, but the cover photos on these Gale books are absolutely brutal. The B&W photo on the ‘Issues That Concern You’ book concerns me greatly. It looks like a casting call for a Michael Jackson video. As for the red ‘Opposing Viewpoints’ cover, I don’t know what to say. It looks like they pulled some guys from People of Walmart (http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/) and told them to make some generic gang hand gestures for a photo. Or maybe the guy on the left with the kneesocks and his tank top pulled up to look like a man bra is undergoing his initiation? Neither cover really makes me think that gangs are scary, only that they’re support groups for people who make bad fashion choices.
Holly: I agree that these are keepers for public library collections. Are the pictures inside these books just as…um…interesting? I think man-bra guy wants to show off his tattoo. The guy next to him did the same, but then blew it by crossing his arms over his stomach. The third guy is clearly practicing for the airline safety spiel (“exits to the sides and rear of the aircraft…”) The second book looks like a reunion of the cast of Welcome Back Kotter.
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