THE CENTURY THAT WAS

From the canny predictions of Jules Verne to the environmental and civil-rights movements, 11 eminent writers for children follow topical threads through our country's past century. Some of the history is public, some private: Albert Marrin analyzes far-reaching changes wrought in the American social fabric by WWI; Jim Murphy covers the advent of cars, paved roads, and air travel; Eve Bunting spins from her own experiences a kaleidoscopic view of immigration; Katherine Paterson reflects on changes in religious expectations and practices between her father's generation and hers. Such personal points of view often make for animated writing, especially in Bruce Brooks’s indictment of the professionalization of sports (“Face it, Wayne Gretzky is an alien”), and Lois Lowry's analysis of the women's clothing in six generations of family portraits—even Milton Meltzer's otherwise dry chapter on presidential administrations is sparked by references to Reagan's “military adventures” and Bush's “well rehearsed little stunts.” Though movies, music, books, medicine, and communications technology (to name a few areas) receive passing mention at best, these wide-angle surveys and ruminations make savory reading, and will give young readers intriguing perspective on the tumultuous 20th. (photos, reading lists, index, not seen). (Nonfiction. 11-15)