Pulse-pounding fun throughout.
A highlight reel tribute to the U.S.’s greatest, or at least most popular, team sport.
Barnes continues his deservedly acclaimed series with another rush of facts, feats, and figures from the past. Like baseball, American football has a long and troubling history of institutional racism but is nonetheless spangled with outstanding athletes and coaches of color. Several take turns in the spotlight here; some, like Jim Thorpe, still enjoy wide name recognition but most will likely be new to younger readers. True, some of the author’s facts are out of date (for instance, John Harbaugh hasn’t coached the Ravens since 2025), and readers will likely be skeptical when Barnes states that groundbreaking NFL referee Sarah Thomas paved the way for female “players in every position.” Still, his prose is propulsive and his patchwork assortment of individual profiles and entries on random topics from a Black players’ boycott in 1965 to the three stingiest defenses ever, the largest single-game comeback in NFL history, and memorable touchdown celebrations shine fannish glows on an array of gridiron glories. Readers in search of a linked, cohesive overview of the sport’s past and present may need to look elsewhere, but no one will fail to come away pumped up by this racially diverse tally of “change agents” and their awesome achievements. Game photos would have been a plus, but Bajet’s graphic figures do add big, blocky, mostly brown-skinned, often smiling presences.
Pulse-pounding fun throughout. (print and web resources, glossary) (Nonfiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026
ISBN: 9781523505555
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
At its best when the emphasis is on the skill and artistry of Mime’s most accomplished practitioner—alas, too much of the...
The legendary mime is introduced to a new generation, though not entirely successfully.
As a child, Marceau loved to silently entertain his friends, like his idol, Charlie Chaplin. During the Nazi occupation of France, Marcel and his brother took on new identities in the French Underground, where they forged documents for Jewish children and helped many to escape to Switzerland. Spielman assumes that her young audience will understand references to deportation and concentration camps; unfortunately for those that don't, her matter-of-fact tone speaks more of adventure than deadly peril. Her tone subtly changes when she lovingly describes Marceau’s training and development as a mime and his stage persona of Bip the clown, admiring his skills in the “art of silence” that won him international renown. But here too, comparisons to the Little Tramp and Pierrot may be outside readers’ frame of reference. Though the illustrations carefully complement the textual content with period details, Gauthier’s cartoon faces are all nearly identical, with only the screen image of Chaplin and Marceau’s Bip having distinctive features. A double-page spread at the conclusion provides photographs of Bip in action and is the only clear indication of Marceau’s stagecraft.
At its best when the emphasis is on the skill and artistry of Mime’s most accomplished practitioner—alas, too much of the book looks elsewhere. (Picture book/biography. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-3961-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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
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