A plentiful gallery of role models, well beyond the usual suspects.
Profiles of more than 50 teams and athletes who broke barriers or beat the odds to succeed.
While readers in search of role models will find familiar ones here—from Jim Thorpe and Jackie Robinson to Simone Biles—it’s the lower-profile entries that set this book apart. Along with athletes who broke color or gender barriers to play professional hockey, basketball, and numerous other sports, the authors salute several Paralympians, as well as Kim Ng, the first female general manager in Major League Baseball; Jim Eisenreich, the first known MLB player to have had Tourette syndrome; transgender NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas; autism advocate and professional surfer Clay Marzo; and Justin Peck, a motorsports racer who’s been open about his bipolar disorder. Title IX also wins a full entry of its own, and the Haudenosaunee lacrosse teams, barred from international competition from the 19th century to 1990 and again as recently as 2020 (ironically, considering the sport’s Native American origins), are one of several teams to earn commendation for persistence. “The world of sports,” the authors write, “more than ever before, has room in the lineup for everyone!” Specific biographical information in the alphabetically arranged entries tends to be thin, but both these profiles and Walthall’s portraits of muscular, smiling figures exuding confidence offer inspiration galore.
A plentiful gallery of role models, well beyond the usual suspects. (timeline, index by sport, further reading) (Collective biography. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728275062
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing.
In this graphic memoir by sports journalist Shah, a ninth grader pursues his passion in the face of familial expectations pushing him toward a medical career, while also navigating the perils of high school social life.
It’s 1995, and Indian American Amar is desperate to meet the Chicago Bulls—Michael Jordan, in particular—when they stop by his Orlando, Florida, school. A lucky break leads him to his first sports interview, with Phil Jackson, and his tenacity takes him further, leading to multiple conversations with Shaquille O’Neal. But Amar’s luck in journalism doesn’t spill over to his relationship with his crush, blond Kasey Page (“like a mixture of Cameron Diaz, Tinkerbell, and heaven”), or his efforts to remain close with best friends Rohit and Cherian, who start spending more time with other classmates. The work relies on captions as much as plot developments to propel the story. It also follows a broad cast of characters—close and former friends, antagonists, supportive adults, and famous athletes—who appear in multiple storylines. The story accurately depicts the complexities of life as a young teen, though overlapping life challenges pull it in multiple directions, leaving some threads underexplored and hastily wrapped up. Doucet illustrates the characters using loose, disjointed outlines that give the artwork a sense of movement, and the colorful backgrounds use patterns and action lines to indicate a wide array of emotions.
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing. (author’s note, photographs) (Graphic memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781546110514
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In no particular order and using no set criteria for his selections, veteran sportscaster Berman pays tribute to an arbitrary gallery of baseball stars—all familiar names and, except for the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, retired from play for decades. Repeatedly taking the stance that statistics are just numbers but then reeling off batting averages, home-run totals, wins (for pitchers) and other data as evidence of greatness, he offers career highlights in a folksy narrative surrounded by photos, side comments and baseball-card–style notes in side boxes. Readers had best come to this with some prior knowledge, since he casually drops terms like “slugging percentage,” “dead ball era” and “barnstorming” without explanation and also presents a notably superficial picture of baseball’s history—placing the sport’s “first half-century” almost entirely in the 1900s, for instance, and condescendingly noting that Jackie Robinson’s skill led Branch Rickey to decide that he “was worthy of becoming the first black player to play in the majors.” The awesome feats of Ruth, Mantle, the Gibsons Bob and Josh, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb and the rest are always worth a recap—but this one’s strictly minor league. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3886-4
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
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