Young athletes will find much of value in this guide to developing a winning mindset.
Demonstrating that mental conditioning benefits sports performance, this guide by a sports psychologist helps young athletes build on their talents and skills by cultivating their self-awareness.
Adapted for young readers from his book for adults The Champion’s Mind (2014), this version combines three revised chapters from the original book with new sections geared toward student athletes. Peppered with quotes from noted individuals in the sporting world and other fields, topics covered include advice for attaining your goals, using visualization, finding your flow state, and learning to grow from negative or stressful experiences. Commendably, the text covers a variety of sports beyond the expected baseball, basketball, soccer, and football, such as golf, tennis, track and field, and gymnastics. While the design of the book is lackluster and the tone is earnest and somewhat dry, valuable information for teen athletes on quality sleep and nutrition, in addition to the above topics, makes it relevant and useful.
Young athletes will find much of value in this guide to developing a winning mindset. (appendix, references and recommended reading, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63565-056-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Rodale Kids
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Compelling reading for art lovers.
The intertwined creative and personal lives of two trailblazing artists whose lifestyles were as avant-garde as their work.
The creative and personal lives of Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were dramatically linked from the time they met. They initially bonded over Frida’s budding attempts at painting, but they soon fell in love. Frida’s life was complicated by injuries she carried from a serious streetcar accident that doctors had not expected her to survive. Diego was a complex man, devoted to his art and communist politics while unwilling to remain faithful to Frida. Their tumultuous relationship and her broken body were both important influences on Kahlo’s deeply personal work, while Rivera’s extensive murals and other works reflected his politics and love of the Mexican people. Reef offers a balanced and cleareyed examination of this powerful relationship, contextualizing it against the backdrop of national politics in Mexico and international change ushered in by the Great Depression and World War II. The account also cogently reveals how these shifts affected the artistic world as well. The clear narrative deftly handles complex political and artistic ideas and sheds light on how the couple’s unusual connection enhanced and occasionally detracted from their work. The many photographs and examples of the artists’ work neatly complement the text.
Compelling reading for art lovers. (timeline, source notes, bibliography; index, not seen) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-547-82184-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
A sketchy, superficial treatment of a subject worthy of much more.
This brief overview of the long-running, influential sketch-comedy show is brimming with facts but lacking in substance.
When Saturday Night Live premiered in 1975, it was bold, raw and revolutionary. It offered sharp, biting commentary on politics and other current events, as well as witty satirical pieces skewering all facets of American culture. Kaplan’s brief overview of the show chronicles its rise, impact upon popular culture, influence upon comedians and comedy programs that followed it, occasional controversies it stirred, and how it has served as a launching pad for a remarkable number of future stars in film and television. He is quite correct when he claims, “Saturday Night Live changed the way we think about comedians and comedy” and that it “paved the way for other provocative and intelligent comedy shows.” Unfortunately, Kaplan never elaborates on this statement, focusing instead on who were the most popular performers and what were the most popular catchphrases and describing some of the more notable sketches in the show’s history. He does pay some cursory attention to how the show evolved in its treatment of minority cast members. Another notable shortcoming is the singular attention given to the show’s star performers—there’s no mention made of the essential role writers had in making the show innovative and sustaining its longevity.
A sketchy, superficial treatment of a subject worthy of much more. (source notes, bibliography, further information, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4677-1086-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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