April 1, 2017
Gr 2-5-Contemporary athletes representing the sports of soccer, skiing, football, swimming, basketball, and gymnastics are featured in this attractive series. In addition to career highlights, the texts also include information on the athletes' personal lives such as their hobbies and charitable interests. Upbeat and positive, if not overly inspiring, these volumes are more comprehensive than the usual fare for this age group. However, the texts, in some places, are already outdated; for example, Simone Biles references a planned 2016 tour for the U.S. Gymnastics team. VERDICT Solid additions to sports biography collections.
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 1, 2017
Grades 2-5 Though she's had her share of setbacks, superskier Lindsey Vonn is hardly an underdog. This inclusion in the Sports All-Stars series follows the life and career of this particularly hardworking athlete. With more than 70 World Cup victories to her name, Vonn has more wins than any other woman, and is close to breaking the all-time record. Her interest in skiing began when she was young, but she became a true competitor when a friendship and rivalry with fellow skier Julia Mancuso pushed her to begin training intensely. Vonn is known for her fearlessness and intensityshe achieves high speeds and has been injured multiple times, sometimes competing while injured. She's committed to helping young girls gain confidence, and this biography, which showcases her focus and determination, will hopefully help young readers do just that.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2018
Succinct, easy-to-read biographies of these sports stars include brief looks at each person's childhood before focusing on that individual's particular training and road to athletic success. Dramatic narration, direct quotes, color photographs, and sidebars round out the informative main texts; all-star statistics for that sport are appended. There are four other spring 2017 books in this series. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.
(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)