Not for lovers of soccer only: readers after inspiration to keep playing, regardless of the odds, will find plenty here.
Writing with sports journalist Coffey, Lloyd presents a play-by-play recap of her progress from elementary school soccer novice to World Cup player and winner of 2015’s FIFA Golden Ball and Silver Boot.
In this young readers’ adaptation of her memoir for adults, When Nobody Was Watching (2016), Lloyd seems to remember with total recall every game she’s ever played, recapping them in a direct, detailed, blow-by-blow manner that is sure to confuse anyone who isn’t as into soccer as she is. Of course, her audience is likely to be a self-selected one. But soccer detail isn’t the only reason to read this book. All too often, it is easy to look at heroes of many stripes and think that success came to them easily. Lloyd makes it clear that her path was never easy, never without commitment, never without sacrifice, and, most of all, never without discipline and a lot of hard work. Her path covered a lot of ups and downs, and there were key people along the way who made her success the eventual inevitable goal…along with those who deserted and disappointed her. Narrating in the first person, Lloyd is frank about such difficulties as her estrangement from her family, telling readers, “I don’t hear from any of them after the [2012] Olympics, though they do send me a card. I can’t believe it has been four years since we’ve had any relationship to speak of.” True to real life, her story does not unfold neatly, with a clear narrative arc, but her character comes through loud and clear.
Not for lovers of soccer only: readers after inspiration to keep playing, regardless of the odds, will find plenty here. (photos, index) (Memoir. 10-14)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-97869-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2016
This lively look at escapades of daring men—and a surprising number of women—who risked their lives flying in balloons will appeal to adventure, history and science buffs—and perhaps steampunk fans as well. Each of the nine chapters, which are chronologically arranged, focuses on an exciting story, starting with the first confirmed human balloon flight in 1783, which landed safely, and ending with Dolly Shepherd, a young British woman in the early 1900s who parachuted out of balloons, hanging onto a trapeze. It recounts longest flights and highest ones, flights across water and to far-off points, some of which ended in death. An accidental balloon flight in 1858 of an eight-year-old girl and her younger brother, both of whom survived the 13-hour journey, will especially intrigue readers and lends itself well to booktalking. The conversational narrative, which often refers to the adventurers’ childhoods, incorporates ample quotes and anecdotes as well as explanations of such topics as buoyancy, hydrogen and altitude sickness. Useful captions accompany the many full-color illustrations of artwork and photographs. (notes, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-374-37014-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
Born in 1880 in a tiny backwater in Alabama, Helen Keller lived a life familiar to many from the play and movie The Miracle Worker, as well as countless biographies. There’s no denying the drama in the story of the deaf and blind child for whom the world of language became possible through a dedicated and fanatically stubborn teacher, Annie Sullivan. But Helen’s life after that is even more remarkable: she went to high school and then to Radcliffe; she was a radical political thinker and a member of the Wobblies; she supported herself by lecture tours and vaudeville excursions as well as through the kindness of many. Dash (The Longitude Prize, p. 1483) does a clear-sighted and absorbing job of examining Annie’s prickly personality and the tender family that she, Helen, and Annie’s husband John Macy formed. She touches on the family pressures that conspired to keep Helen from her own pursuit of love and marriage; she makes vivid not only Helen’s brilliant and vibrant intelligence and personality, but the support of many people who loved her, cared for her, and served her. She also does not shrink from the describing the social and class divisions that kept some from crediting Annie Sullivan and others intent on making Helen into a puppet and no more. Riveting reading for students in need of inspiration, or who’re overcoming disability or studying changing expectations for women. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-590-90715-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
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