Hot Issues, Cool Choices
While the subject matter is supposed to be tailored to ages ten and up, I found most of what is addressed in the book to be geared to the “and up” audience. Ten year olds are no doubt dealing with issues like peer pressure but they are generally not talking about multiple parties and long hours spent at the mall; they are on the cusp of it but are not quite there yet, for them peer pressure may be framed slightly different. However, Humphrey\’s does a nice job assuming the voice of a young person. She includes several thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter to encourage reflection. Hot Issues, Cool Choices is a valuable tool for facilitating discussion on the weighty issues most children will face at one time or another in their lives.