Young hoop dreamers will find this a highly engaging read about one of today’s most skilled players.
In this middle-grade biography of top basketball talent Kevin Durant, readers learn the passion, persistence, and self-discipline that have made him one of the greatest offensive players ever.
Kevin Durant is both one of the most skilled basketball players of his generation and an incredible inspiration for many. Greatness doesn’t come without a bit of backlash, as much of his record-breaking, hall-of-fame-in-the-making–NBA career has been reduced to one decision he made in 2016 to leave the stagnating Oklahoma City Thunder to join a successful Golden State Warriors team. Wetzel here resets the narrative by taking the long view on the incredible work ethic and discipline that earned Durant all types of accolades along his journey from Prince George’s County, Maryland, to the top of the basketball ranks. Readers meet the community behind the man, including coaches Charles Craig and Taras Brown and, of course, his beloved mother, Wanda Durant. Wetzel, who works as a columnist for Yahoo Sports, draws the details of Durant’s life story from published reporting done throughout the years, disregarding much of the commentary to focus on the words and framing offered by KD himself. Baez’s comics-style illustrations are dotted throughout the chapters, concluding with a spotlighted final sequence of the dagger three Durant sank over Lebron James on his way to his first championship ring in 2017.
Young hoop dreamers will find this a highly engaging read about one of today’s most skilled players. (Biography. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-29583-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
