Review Detail
Middle Grade Non-Fiction
432
Gold Medal Winning Collection of Pioneering Athletes
Overall rating
5.0
Writing Style
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
5.0
Learning Value
5.0
While there are a lot of collective sports biographies, like Sourcebooks 100 Athletes Who Shaped Sports, and 100 Baseball Legends, Allen's Girls Race!,
and Stabler's Kid Athletes, I haven't seen one that focused on athletes from a wide variety of backgrounds and sports that were firsts. This is a great idea, because it allows for a lot of inclusion, but also is a reminded of how recently some of these athletes were "first", because the playing field is still not even.
There were some athletes with whom I was familiar, like tennis player Althea Gibson, athletic polymath Babe Didrickson Zaharias, and baseball player Toni Stone (who is the subject of the fantastic new picture book by Karen L. Swanson, Swinging into History: Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball's First Woman Player, this covered some that I hadn't heard of. I'd heard of Olympic swimmer Sammy Lee, for example, but not his friend Vicki Manolo Draves. Since I don't follow car racing, I didn't realize how groundbreaking Indy 500 driver Janet Guthrie or drag racer Shirley Muldowney were. I should have known about Marla Runyon, the first legally blind Olympic runner, and now might pick up her book No Finish Line. That's the reason I love to see books like this; my students and I might not be interested in every single person, but there's always one or two entries that encourage us to get more information.
and Stabler's Kid Athletes, I haven't seen one that focused on athletes from a wide variety of backgrounds and sports that were firsts. This is a great idea, because it allows for a lot of inclusion, but also is a reminded of how recently some of these athletes were "first", because the playing field is still not even.
There were some athletes with whom I was familiar, like tennis player Althea Gibson, athletic polymath Babe Didrickson Zaharias, and baseball player Toni Stone (who is the subject of the fantastic new picture book by Karen L. Swanson, Swinging into History: Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball's First Woman Player, this covered some that I hadn't heard of. I'd heard of Olympic swimmer Sammy Lee, for example, but not his friend Vicki Manolo Draves. Since I don't follow car racing, I didn't realize how groundbreaking Indy 500 driver Janet Guthrie or drag racer Shirley Muldowney were. I should have known about Marla Runyon, the first legally blind Olympic runner, and now might pick up her book No Finish Line. That's the reason I love to see books like this; my students and I might not be interested in every single person, but there's always one or two entries that encourage us to get more information.
Good Points
Each athlete is given a two page spread, with a brief biography and career overview on the right. It's helpful that the entry starts with the person's name, sport, and years. The entries are arranged alphabetically by last name, which is fine, but I always enjoy seeing these sorts of books about pioneers arranged chronologically. On the left, there is a great portrait with lots of details about the sport or person's background. There are also some articles that are not biographies, but add information about the state of sports in general, like a good discussion about Title IX.
There is a colorful timeline in the back, with the athletes arranged in chronological order, as well as an alphabetical list of the sports included, with the pages where the athletes can be found. I loved the list of other books to read, which includes one of my favorites, Karen Blumenthal's Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law that Changed the Future of Girls. I highly recommend picking up the revised 2022 edition instead of the original 2005 one, even though I liked the original cover better!
Books about sports of any kind are always in demand in my library for pleasure reading, and this has the added appeal of featuring pioneers from a variety of backgrounds, making it useful for biographical presentations as well and a gold medal winner of a middle grade nonfiction title!
There is a colorful timeline in the back, with the athletes arranged in chronological order, as well as an alphabetical list of the sports included, with the pages where the athletes can be found. I loved the list of other books to read, which includes one of my favorites, Karen Blumenthal's Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law that Changed the Future of Girls. I highly recommend picking up the revised 2022 edition instead of the original 2005 one, even though I liked the original cover better!
Books about sports of any kind are always in demand in my library for pleasure reading, and this has the added appeal of featuring pioneers from a variety of backgrounds, making it useful for biographical presentations as well and a gold medal winner of a middle grade nonfiction title!
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