The First Amendment : Freedom of Speech, Religion and the Press

Discusses the definition and history of the First Amendment and considers present day problems regarding the rights it guarantees.

Grade 7-9ATwo average entries in a crowded field. While the format is attractive, the black-and-white photos and illustrations, particularly in The First Amendment, add little information to the presentation. Farish's text consists largely of short descriptions of the cases that have defined these essential freedoms and scenarios designed to provoke thought or discussion. This approach does not allow for much historical or constitutional background, and students are likely to get lost as the text skips from topic to topic often without adequate transitions. Nat Hentoff's The First Freedom (Delacorte, 1980; o.p.) remains a more complete and better organized examination of both the amendment and the issues surrounding it. Monroe details the women's suffrage struggle with an emphasis on the legal and constitutional processes necessary to gain ratification. She provides considerable background about both constitutional history and the people who led the fight, and also explains the impact of the vote on women's societal roles and social conditions. Marlene Brill's Let Women Vote! (Millbrook, 1995) covers much of the same material in a similar manner. Both books devote over 20 pages to the full text of the U.S. Constitution. Serviceable additions.AMary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In an entry in the Constitution series, this tedious, though up-to-date, discussion covers the history of the First Amendment, the rights it guarantees, and how it works (or is supposed to work): to limit government more than it does the individual. Farish (Tinker v. Des Moines, p. 141, etc.) points out that the First Amendment is only one sentence long, that ``many thousands of legal cases have interpreted it,'' and that the debate over its meaning and application continues in such arenas as the JonBenet Ramsey case, the O.J. Simpson trial, and the Internet. While this book presents an abundance of information, the writing and discussions are not crisp nor focused enough; there are numerous repetitions, as well as many missed opportunities to make clear the significance of the First Amendment. Discussion questions help readers apply First Amendment rights to a variety of issues, and the text of the Constitution is reproduced; but Farish does not do justice to her main subject nor articulate its relevance today. (b&w photos, not seen, notes, glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 11-13) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 6^-9. The First Amendment is one of the most important yet perplexing portions of the U.S. Constitution, and its scope, as interpreted by the courts and as perceived by the public, continually shapes our everyday lives. Farish underscores that point in a good introduction to the history and application of the amendment. Emphasizing the framers' intent that First Amendment rights not be restricted by the government, she discusses the limitations imposed by judicial and legislative constraints, and she provides a wide range of examples, from precedent-setting cases to the O. J. Simpson trial, to explore the quagmires of surrounding issues such as obscenity, symbolic speech, freedom of the press, and exercise of religion. Questions, found throughout the chapters and in a concluding section, will jump-start classroom study and homework. Like other volumes in the Constitution series, this one includes notes, a glossary, further readings, and the text of the Constitution. Karen Simonetti