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MY SHOT

Name: MY SHOT
Author: Elena Delle Donne
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1228-6

BALANCING IT ALL AND STANDING TALL

by Elena Delle Donne with Sarah Durand ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2018

Inspiring in many ways, this will be meat and potatoes to girls with their own basketball aspirations.

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WNBA star Delle Donne shares her story of basketball success with an emphasis on how she has overcome trials and tribulations while maintaining her commitment to her family and friends.

Coming out publicly as a lesbian before the 2016 Olympics is almost glossed over, but Delle Donne’s commitment to her sister, Lizzie, who was born blind and deaf with cerebral palsy and later diagnosed as autistic, is there from beginning to end. This commitment has led Delle Donne to include girls with disabilities in her basketball camps and to a role as an ambassador to the Special Olympics. Still, Delle Donne’s career is the focus, and readers hear much more about wins and losses than they gain in understanding of the challenges Lizzie faces. (The ballplayer’s bouts with Lyme disease have also led to work with the Lyme Research Alliance.) While there is plenty of basketball for devotees of the game, Delle Donne gives equal time to the psychology of winning and losing, and she emphasizes that the difference between a great player and a good one is not just talent. Amid the motivational insights is nestled the tremendous support she has had from her white, middle-class family. Along with co-writer Durand, she pens a breezy, conversational narrative that goes down easily.

Inspiring in many ways, this will be meat and potatoes to girls with their own basketball aspirations. (Memoir. 10-16)

Pub Date: March 6, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5344-1228-6

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

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WOMEN SUFFRAGISTS

AMERICAN PROFILE

by Diana Star Helmer ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1998

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This latest book in the American Profiles series features short biographies of ten women who fought for the right to vote. Among those included are Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Mary Church Terrell, Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, Victoria Woodhull, and Jeannette Pickering Rankin. Helmer succinctly outlines each woman’s life in 10—12 pages and describes how that woman came to the suffrage movement. Each vignette includes a chronology and a further reading list. The last entry, Jeannette Pickering Rankin, appropriately sets forth the results of enfranchisement: “She was the first woman ever elected to the United States Congress and the first woman elected to any national government in the world.” While there is some disjointedness and repetition in the stories, the book will provide researchers with an overview of the suffrage movement, and solid background on some of its leading lights. (b&w photos, index, not seen, chronologies, further reading) (Biography. 10-14)

Pub Date: June 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-8160-3579-2

Page Count: 140

Publisher: Facts On File

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1998

Categories:

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | HISTORICAL & MILITARY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION

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PICK AND SHOVEL POET

THE JOURNEYS OF PASCAL D’ANGELO

by Jim Murphy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 6, 2000

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In 1910, Pascal D’Angelo and his father left the harsh Abruzzi region of Italy to escape its impossible poverty and journey to the United States; Pascal was 16 years old. Murphy, a graceful narrator of history, presents the life of the peasant as he journeyed through life in the new country. He never became wealthy or even comfortable, but did leave an impression with his poetry—and this from a man who became literate in English as an adult, largely self-taught (and librarians will be delighted to know that they helped him). D’Angelo also wrote an autobiography, Son of Italy, relating to life as an immigrant and the hard—largely pick-and-shovel—work he did to earn a scant living. Such a telling should resonate when readers think about why people come to a new country where they do not speak the language, do not know the customs, and too often are alone, even (or especially) today. The protagonist does not come through as a sharp personality; he is somewhat shadowy against the times and places of his life. He stands out as a symbol rather than a full person. But his accomplishments are certainly large. Archival photos are interesting but sometimes captions are non-indicative; what do they mean? When and where were they taken? There are two photos of D’Angelo. As usual, Murphy provides details that help set the story. A biography of a common man that is also the history of a civilization and its times. (index and bibliography) (Biography. 9-14)