Low on sports action; high on humanitarian values.
A portrait of the “best basketball player on the planet,” focusing particularly on his off-the-court I PROMISE initiative.
Maraniss covers LeBron James’ life from a young boy to a b-ball titan but positions his subject here as “just a kid from Akron who wanted to help other people.” So though he recaps LeBron’s professional career (so far) in broad outline, he directs at least as much attention to his work with his hometown’s low-income families, his public protests in the wake of the killings of Trayvon Martin and other Black victims, and his defiant response to the Fox News commentator who told him to just “shut up and dribble”: “I AM MORE THAN AN ATHLETE.” Maraniss also covers the I PROMISE school, which offers meals, bikes, college scholarships, and more to students and even housing and job training for their families. In line with the series theme, backmatter contains both career stats (up to the end of 2023) and challenges to readers to stand up, speak up, and look for ways to give struggling fellow students an assist. “In a world with so much injustice, how will you help others?” Even as a child, LeBron is a charismatic figure in Hodge’s monochrome illustrations.
Low on sports action; high on humanitarian values. (timeline, glossary) (Biography. 8-10)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593526156
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective.
The author of Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America (2004) tells her father’s tale again, for younger readers.
Though using a less personal tone this time and referring to herself in the third person, Robinson still devotes as much attention to his family life, youth and post-baseball career as she does to his achievements on the field. Writing in short sentences and simple language, she presents a clear picture of the era’s racial attitudes and the pressures he faced both in the military service and in baseball—offering plenty of clear reasons to regard him not just as a champion athlete, but as a hero too. An early remark about how he ran with “a bunch of black, Japanese, and Mexican boys” while growing up in Pasadena is insensitively phrased, and a sweeping claim that by 1949 “[t]he racial tension was broken” in baseball is simplistic. Nevertheless, by and large her account covers the bases adequately. The many photos include an admixture of family snapshots, and a closing Q-and-A allows the author to announce the imminent release of a new feature film about Robinson.
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective. (Biography. 8-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-54006-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
A squeaky-clean biography of the original Mouseketeer.
Scollon begins with the (to say the least) arguable claim that Disney grew up to “define and shape what would come to be known as the American Century.” Following this, he retraces Disney’s life and career, characterizing him as a visionary whose only real setbacks came from excess ambition or at the hands of unscrupulous film distributors. Disney’s brother Roy appears repeatedly to switch between roles as encourager and lead doubter, but except in chapters covering his childhood, the rest of his family only puts in occasional cameos. Unsurprisingly, there is no mention of Disney’s post–World War II redbaiting, and his most controversial film, Song of the South, gets only a single reference (and that with a positive slant). More puzzling is the absence of Mary Poppins from the tally of Disney triumphs. Still, readers will come away with a good general picture of the filmmaking and animation techniques that Disney pioneered, as well as a highlight history of his studio, television work and amusement parks. Discussion questions are appended: “What do you think were Walt Disney’s greatest accomplishments and why?” Brown’s illustrations not seen. An iconic success story that has often been told before but rarely so one-dimensionally or with such firm adherence to the company line. (bibliography) (Biography. 8-10)
Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9647-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Disney Press
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
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