A winning tribute to remarkable achievements.
Revered professional tennis player King and sports journalist and author Robbins highlight a new generation of women athletes.
King interviewed 11 elite athletes and their caregivers and coaches, showing curious readers what drives the pros. A catchy, easily remembered phrase distills each woman’s work ethic: Caitlin Clark (“Pressure Is a Privilege”), Diana Flores (“You Have To See It To Be It”), Kendall Coyne Schofield (“Ask for What You Want and What You Need”), Midge Purce (“Relationships Are Everything”), Asjia O’Neal (“Perspective is Priceless”), Kelsie Whitmore (“You Define Yourself”), Amit Elor (“Be a Problem Solver”), McKenzie Coan (“Celebrate Our Differences”), Nikki Hiltz (“Champions Adjust”), Chelsea Gray (“Starts with Integrity”), and Naomi Osaka (“Know Your History”). These women excel in a broad range of sports, such as basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, wrestling, swimming, and tennis, and the challenges they’ve faced include physical disability (Paralympic gold medalist in swimming Coan has osteogenesis imperfecta) and racial marginalization (soccer star Purce established the Black Women’s Player Collective, and Japanese world champion tennis player Osaka, whose father is Haitian, spoke out about systemic racism). Ample quotations and photographs add appeal to the warm profiles, which show the caring relationships King built with her subjects and demonstrate their fortitude and the beauty of their characters. King offers her own unique insights into professional athletes’ psyches, and the interviews show how critical early support is to their success.
A winning tribute to remarkable achievements. (bibliography and source notes, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2026
ISBN: 9781662681448
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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