Inclusive and appealing.
Inspirational profiles of 18 Winter Olympics and Paralympics standouts.
As in her 2024 companion volume about Summer Olympians, Stevenson recaps the various athletes’ discoveries of their chosen winter sports and their rise to local, national, and then international championships. Her chief focus is on the obstacles each person faced and overcame along the way, such as home schooling and other accommodations necessitated by intense training regimens, as well as expensive coaching and competition travel. Some coped with physical issues: Japanese American figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi was born with clubfoot, and bone cancer left Canadian multisport Paralympian Cindy Ouellet with severe nerve damage in her legs. Other athletes dealt with racism and homophobia (after a triumph on the slopes, Korean American snowboarder Chloe Kim was told to “go back to China”), bullying (Ouellet recalls that upon her return to school after chemotherapy, “people were even kicking my crutches”), and debilitating bouts of anxiety and self-doubt. Their ultimate triumphs are clearly well earned. Stevenson also describes the hopes many have for influencing others; French figure skater Surya Bonaly, a transracial adoptee whose birth mother came from Réunion, hoped to change perceptions that “winter sports were just for white people.” In interspersed segments, the author addresses discriminatory attitudes toward transgender athletes, the challenges faced by those from tropical countries who wish to train for winter sports, and other topics. Steinfeld’s bright spot images of the determined achievers enhance the text.
Inclusive and appealing. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781683693932
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing.
In this graphic memoir by sports journalist Shah, a ninth grader pursues his passion in the face of familial expectations pushing him toward a medical career, while also navigating the perils of high school social life.
It’s 1995, and Indian American Amar is desperate to meet the Chicago Bulls—Michael Jordan, in particular—when they stop by his Orlando, Florida, school. A lucky break leads him to his first sports interview, with Phil Jackson, and his tenacity takes him further, leading to multiple conversations with Shaquille O’Neal. But Amar’s luck in journalism doesn’t spill over to his relationship with his crush, blond Kasey Page (“like a mixture of Cameron Diaz, Tinkerbell, and heaven”), or his efforts to remain close with best friends Rohit and Cherian, who start spending more time with other classmates. The work relies on captions as much as plot developments to propel the story. It also follows a broad cast of characters—close and former friends, antagonists, supportive adults, and famous athletes—who appear in multiple storylines. The story accurately depicts the complexities of life as a young teen, though overlapping life challenges pull it in multiple directions, leaving some threads underexplored and hastily wrapped up. Doucet illustrates the characters using loose, disjointed outlines that give the artwork a sense of movement, and the colorful backgrounds use patterns and action lines to indicate a wide array of emotions.
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing. (author’s note, photographs) (Graphic memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781546110514
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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