September 1, 2021
How nabbing perps has gone from using "guesswork, gossip...and even ghosts" to DNA analysis. Newquist stumbles out of the starting gate with a radically simplistic overview of the pre-modern development of laws and law enforcement ("much of the Western world was in chaos during a time known as the Middle Ages") and misses or neglects to mention that the standard Henry Classification System for fingerprints was actually invented by Indian mathematicians. Once he gets to mid-18th-century London's proto-police "Bow Street Runners," however, he goes on to deliver a reasonably straightforward account of how tools and techniques from blood typing to ballistics became incorporated into today's forensic science. Also, he balances nods to the positive contributions of prominent criminologists like Alphonse Bertillon and Frances Glessner Lee with a sharp critique of their colleague Francis Galton's belief in eugenics. He takes closer looks at groundbreaking cases and how they were solved (or not), tucks in topical glossaries as well as directions for homespun activities like collecting fingerprints and analyzing blood spatters (the latter using, thankfully, paint or food coloring), and closes with looks at theoretical advances such as "molecular photofitting," which involves leveraging DNA to create physical descriptions. In the mix of historical portraits, documents, and crime-scene photos, all of the human figures are White, though several on both sides of the law are women. Skimps on early days and non-European ways but lays out some groundwork for budding investigators. (index, resource list) (Nonfiction. 11-13)
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October 2, 2021
Gr 6 Up-Forensic science has been a pop culture darling for some time, whether through television dramas, true crime books, or movies. This book provides teens the science that informs those scenes. Newquist presents a compulsively readable narrative of the evolution of cracking cases. The main lens of the book is the science that decodes a crime scene. However, readers who come for the crime will stay for the history, as the book begins at the dawn of civilization; crime is as old as humans. Centuries of advancements in law, science, policing, media, and medicine are covered comprehensively yet economically in a digestible 150 pages of text. The book is printed in full color and the core narrative is well supplemented by photographs, illustrations, and colored boxes of text containing information like vocabulary words, additional concept explanations, or easy-to-replicate forensic science activities (hands-on experiments with titles like Bite Marks, Fingerprints, and Blood Spatter Analysis) that can be done at home or in a classroom. VERDICT A recommended scientific foundation for a YA audience interested in crime dramas and true crime that could easily coincide with lessons from a wide range of subjects.-Lindsay Jensen, Nashville P.L.
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 1, 2021
Grades 6-9 This history of forensic science by NSTA Award winner Newquist traces the development of detective work from ancient times to still-pending investigations. Coverage begins back when superstition and circumstance often determined judicial outcomes; then, engaging chronological reporting on breakthrough criminal investigations from the past 500 years show how technological innovations (fingerprint charts, mug-shot photos, crime-scene recreations, blood and hair analysis, psychological profiling, DNA tracing) gradually became standard police procedure. Much attention is given to the importance of media coverage (broadsheets, penny dreadfuls) and crime writers (beginning with Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, and Arthur Conan Doyle) in increasing public demand for the newest science-based investigative methods. There's quite a bit of text, but the numerous illustrations, period photos, document reproductions, text-embedded glossaries, and do-it-yourself activities (blood-spatter analysis, footprint investigations) provide plenty of diversions. There's a bibliography and lots of useful information for report writers, but the true audience for this book is all those budding forensic scientists intent on a life of uncovering evidence and solving crimes.
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