A high-intensity shot for the goal.
A kicky tribute to the iconic soccer star and her spectacularly talented teammates on the U.S. national women’s team.
Gray’s fizzily exuberant account of Hamm’s triumphant progress—from first feats on the pitch at age 2 in 1974 to the U.S. team’s 1999 Women’s World Cup victory—is cranked up to 11 by Hess’ close-ups of her wide-eyed delight, full-bore game action punctuated with many a “BOOM!” “POW!” “WOOSH!” and wild, unrestrained celebratory piles after each win. Along the way, readers see young Mia cope with moodiness, feelings of alienation, and frequent moves because of her father’s Air Force job. Soccer became a grounding force for her, and finding other young women who also loved the sport made her feel less alone. Fast-paced game scenes will entice sports fans; for historically minded readers, team rosters and scoring summaries anchor each major competition, and a closing section brings the post-1999 professional exploits of each member of the team up to the present. Just as the art vividly captures the players’ infectious intensity and athleticism, the larger overall story of how the team lit up a new interest in the sport in the United States, particularly among girls, makes equally compelling reading. Both the player galleries and crowd scenes feature clear racial diversity in skin tones and facial features.
A high-intensity shot for the goal. (sources, photograph) (Graphic nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9781250823663
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
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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