The authors (both affiliated with Northeastern U.), approaching the topic from their combined background in the social sciences and in law enforcement and security management, address the issue of school violence in the United States. They begin by describing the nature, patterns, and trends of school violence and other school safety perils and identifying associated factors. They then discuss specific security concerns and best practices for protecting students, staff, and school property for each level of schooling from preschool to college, emphasizing the importance of school personnel matters such as recruitment, training, supervision, retention, and termination. Several appendices provide background and reference material on major episodes of school violence, best practices approaches to bullying and security technology, and prescriptive documents arising from legislative and judicial acts. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)