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 stereotype about people with disabilities is shattered by this introduction to a dance company known as Dancing Wheels, a group composed of “sit down” and “stand-up” dancers. The story begins with Mary Fletcher-Verdi, born with spina bifida, a condition that causes weakness in the legs and spine. Mary always wanted to dance, and, encouraged by a family who focused on what she could do rather than what she couldn’t, she studied the art and eventually formed a mixed company, some who dance on their legs, and some who dance in wheelchairs. What she accomplished can be seen in this photo journal of the group’s dance workshop in which beginners and experienced dancers study and rehearse. Along the way, McMahon (One Belfast Boy, 1999, etc.) intersperses the history of the group, some details about the dancers, their families, and the rehearsal process that leads up to the final performance. Three children are featured, Jenny a wheelchair dancer, Devin, her stand-up partner, and Sabatino, the young son of Mary’s partner. The focus on these youngsters gives the reader a sense of their personalities and their lives with their families. Godt’s (Listen for the Bus, not reviewed, etc.) color photographs detail every aspect of the story and show the dancers at home and in rehearsal, interacting with each other, having fun, and finally performaning. They convey the dancer’s sense of joy as well as the commitment to the dance as an art form felt by the adult directors and teachers. An excellent book for helping children and adults expand their understanding about the abilities of the “disabled.” (Nonfiction. 7-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-395-88889-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
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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