Oct./Nov. 1982 RAIN Page 5 the system and, given a more realistic understanding, to create pressure to help change the system. The goal of this book is not to solve your particular legal case, but to provide a framework of knowledge from which to move when encountering problems which call for a relationship to a lawyer and the law. Part One outlines different types of encounters with the system asking pertinent questions (Do I need a lawyer? How do I choose one? How honest am I expected to be? What kind of arrangements for fees can I make?), and pointing out opportunities and pitfalls along the way. Part Two focuses on the most frequently encountered legal sub-systems; those that deal with crime, accidents, property, families, death, and taxes. This section can be used for guidance in specific circumstances for anyone with a legal problem. Winning With Your Laywer can teU you — before it's too late — what you need to know to help you through a legal crisis. — Nancy Cosp>er The great strength of this book is its uniqueness. It is the only book I know of offering a comprehensive guide to writing and implementing a rent control law that will protect tenants against unfair costs or conditions without adversely affecting the willingness of private parties to invest in housing. The essays on writing a good law are well grounded in the actual experiences of U.S. and foreign cities and take up much of the book. In the more philosophical essays, the contributing writers reveal the dimensions of the housing problem in the U.S. and argue the need for a longterm solution that goes beyond rent control — like the removal of housing investment from the private market. Unfortunately, the vwit- ers are rather vague in their efforts to justify such a solution or demonstrate its workability. Nevertheless, housing activists can make good use of this b^k. Those who do not already have a copy should get one — quick. — Scott Androes Kids The Children’s Solar Energy Book even Grownups can Understand, by TiUy Spet- gang and Malcolm Wells, 1982,156 pp., $6.95 from: Sterling Publishing Co. 2 Park Avenue New York, NY 10016 A patient teacher plus a class of crazy kids plus solar information can only equal one thing, and it did. Open this book and join Mrs. Robinson's solar energy class. You may be sitting next to a dragon, Jenny the Dog, or your friendly neighborhood python, but no matter where you sit, reading this book is a humorous and” educational experience. And no matter what grades Mrs. Robinson gives her class. The Children's Solar Energy Book gets an A-Plus. — Darcy Cosper, age 12 Rent Control: A Source Book, by John Gil- derbloom and Friends, 1981, 320 pp., $9.95 from: Foundation for National Progress Housing Information Center P.O. Box 3396 Santa Barbara, CA 93105 This collection of short essays is about so-called "moderate" rent control. Not a freeze on rents such as New York City had during World War II (the sort of control that leads to abandonment and an end to new construction) but rather a controlled rise in rents that allows landlords a "fair" profit but prevents rent gouging. _l ikt mm / Solar • • From: The Children's Solar Energy Book if Oil ^ sock O &TJS!'A °
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