sports

Miss Mary Reporting by Sue Macy

| Tasha

Miss Mary Reporting by Sue Macy

Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber by Sue Macy, illustrated by C. F. Payne (InfoSoup)

Mary Garber was one of the first female sports journalists in the United States. At a time when women were not newspaper reporters, Mary was a sports reporter. Her big break came during World War II when the men were sent to war. After the war, Mary was moved to a news desk but then a year later permanent came back to sports. She was there to witness Jackie Robinson join the Brooklyn Dodgers. Mary herself was barred from the press box and forced to sit with the coaches’ wives rather than the other reporters until her editor complained. Locker rooms were also a challenge. Mary continued writing about sports for more than 50 years, retiring in 2002. Along the way she garnered awards and honors and a reputation for being fair and unbiased.

Macy captures the story of this groundbreaking woman beautifully. The tone is playful and humble with Garber’s quotes often given credit and thanks to others rather than taking praise for herself. At the same time, one understands the courage it took for Mary to continue doing this job in such a male-dominated field. This story is inspirational in the best possible way.

Payne’s illustrations add to the playful feel of the title and the humor. Mary is shown as very petite, dwarfed by those around her. Yet she is clearly the center of attention on the page, her face lit from within by her big eyes and large glasses. Her short hair and can-do attitude mark her uniquely on the page as well.

A great picture book biography to share with children who enjoy sports or writing. Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

 

 

Review: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

| Tasha

crossover

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Josh Bell is a 13-year-old basketball star along with his twin brother Jordan.  They are the sons of Chuck “Da Man” Bell, who used to play European ball.  Now their father plays only with them, helping them learn the tricks of being a great ball handler.  Josh also has a beat, a rhythm that he patters when he plays, creating rap riffs as he runs on the court.  As he tells his story in verse, he also reveals more than just playing ball, he shows how he and his brother are becoming strong young men.  It just may be though that the strongest man that they know has some weaknesses of his own, ones that come at a huge toll. 

Can I just say how important this book is?  It is a verse novel, A VERSE NOVEL, for pre-teens that is about young African-American boys who are being reared by two involved parents in a middle-class home.  This book takes stereotypes and turns them on their heads.  Then you have the incredible verse by Alexander, capturing the rhythm of basketball and also the beat of an entire family.  The writing is so strong, so vibrant that the book can’t be put down. 

Josh is a great character as is his entire family.  None of them are stereotypes and both boys are different and yet similar to one another too.  They both struggle with playing the best, meeting girls, living up to their parents’ expectations, and discovering the truth about their father.  This is a coming-of-age story, but one that is dynamic and fresh.

Perfect for sports fans, this verse novel will surprise with its rap feel and its incredible depth.  Simply spectacular.  Appropriate for ages 11-13.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares

| Tasha

becoming babe ruth

Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares

This biographical picture book takes a look at Babe Ruth’s formative years.  It is the story of a small boy named George Herman Ruth who gets into lots of trouble, so much that his father puts him into Saint Mary’s Industrial School for Boys.  There he has to follow the rules and work hard.  Happily, there is also baseball and George gets to play it almost every day.  Best of all, there is Brother Matthias who serves as an inspiration and mentor for George’s baseball game and life.  As George gets better and better, he is finally whisked into the world of major league baseball, but he never forgot the school and the man who got him there. 

Tavares writes in such an engaging way that the pages fly by.  The sudden sternness of the school is told in short, abrupt sentences that enforce the martial feel of the establishment.  That contrasts directly with the long sentences that talk about the beauty of baseball.  Readers can almost feel themselves taking a big gulp of freedom on those pages. 

The joy Tavares feels about his subject is also palpable.  From eating ice cream with the boys from the school, to tipping his hat to them as he walks on the field, to the pleasure of hitting a ball, all are captured with a fondness and pleasure in the paintings that are the illustrations in the book. 

This is a baseball biography that children will find accessible and fascinating.  Play ball!  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Olympig by Victoria Jamieson

| Tasha

olympig

Olympig by Victoria Jamieson

Boomer has decided to be the first pig ever to compete in the Animal Olympics and gained attention of the news.  He practiced hard and at night dreamt of Olympic victory.  The next day, he lined up for the race against cheetahs, rabbits, and greyhounds.  He lost, of course, much to the delight of the news.  Boomer was heart broken until he realized he had other events to compete in.  He lost at weightlifting, hurdles, high jump, wrestling and more.  Then came the diving event, and Boomer knew that he had the best dive in the animal world: the cannonball!  But even then, he lost!  Boomer quit before the final event, storming off the field.  But then he saw his mother on the news saying how special he was and how much she loved him.  So he put on his costume for the final event, and off he went!

Jamieson portrays Boomer as an eternal optimist, someone who has been told that all it takes to succeed is to practice and do your best.  Unfortunately, it sometimes takes some natural talent too.  But Boomer remains that optimist.  He may get bruised and battered, but bounces back.  Jamieson has created an underdog that everyone will be rooting for, but who is also doomed to fail. 

The illustrations are done in a silly, cartoon style.  Jamieson creates engaging pairings for each event: Boomer weightlifts against an elephant, jumps against a flying squirrel and dives against a seal.  Adding to the jolly feel of the book are the endpages that have a silhouette of a round pig doing a range of Olympic events.  They have just the right feel, mocking the Olympic signage.

Silly and yet heart warming, this picture book is nicely timed with the Summer Olympics and will be enjoyed by all of us who yearn to be Olympic victors but just aren’t built for it.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.

Review: Happy Like Soccer by Maribeth Boelts

| Tasha

happy like soccer

Happy Like Soccer by Maribeth Boelts, illustrated by Lauren Castillo

Sierra loves to play soccer, especially on the field that is well maintained with a real soccer goal, not two garbage cans next to each other.  But now that she plays on a team, her aunt can’t come to her games because she has to work.  Sierra’s coach tells her he is glad to have her on the team and asks her if there is anything she needs, but Sierra always says no.  When her aunt manages to get time off to attend Sierra’s final game of the series, the game is rained out.  Sierra knows that her aunt can’t get two Saturdays off in a row, can’t ask for two favors so close together.  Sierra has to figure out how to fix this herself, because her aunt just has to see her play at least once this season!

Boelts has written this book poetically, with the lines in stanzas that make it read like a poem.  She also uses phrases that turn it into poetry, repetition and spare but true language.  Her writing has a great lilt to it, pointing to someone who speaks with an accent that makes their own phrasing dance.  It’s beautifully done, fully capturing the love between Sierra and her aunt and the fact that the two of them are a complete family. 

Castillo’s art adds to this feeling of family.  The book is set firmly in an urban environment, one that is escapable by bus but also one that is home.  The illustrations cement that setting.  The thick black lines and bright colors also have a subtlety that is unexpected.

A celebration of a small family, an urban community and sports, this picture book glows with love.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Front and Center

| Tasha

Front and Center by Catherine Murdock

Released October 19, 2009.

In this third and final book in the Dairy Queen series, DJ has returned home after caring for her injured brother Will.  Now she is back in the high school mix of homework, basketball and plenty of pressure.  Pressure from her coach to turn into a better leader and start to speak out more on court.  Pressure from the bag of offers her father has kept, filled with coaches that she is going to have to call.  Pressure from a new boyfriend and lingering thoughts of Brian.  Pressure from her brother Will to do it all perfectly and to do it now.  Luckily DJ has basketball and workouts to keep her mind from spiraling completely out of control.  But she has some big decisions to make and soon.

DJ is such a wonderful character that I am sad to see this will be her final book.  She is genuine, funny and reminds me vividly of all of the Wisconsin farm girls I knew growing up.  Murdock has created a character who is above all real, filled with doubts, and exceptional.  Even reading this as an adult, it brought up all of the tough decisions I have had to make about school and work, along with their accompanying not-good-enough feelings.  Murdock has written a book about struggling with self-doubt and the future without becoming whiny in any way. 

Murdock also excels at the characters of DJ’s family, giving them each their own motivations, logical growth of their characters, and sudden understanding.  It is a pleasure to see a series where an entire family changes together, growing stronger and more important to one another.

Highly recommended for anyone who has read the first two.  This final book is just as good as the others in the series, if not better.  I’d recommend seeking this series out and enjoying all three books right in a row if you haven’t read them yet.  A great end to a marvelous series!  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Also reviewed at Librarilly Blonde, Abby (the) Librarian, Feed Your Imagination, and Jen Robinson’s Book Page.