Authentically illustrates the challenges and hope LGBTQ+ athletes find in the world of sports.
Profiles of notable queer sports figures paired with essays written by queer, trans, and nonbinary athletes, including popular authors for young people.
This work introduces people who helped pave the way in their respective sports for other LGBTQ+ athletes, such as Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, NFL player Carl Nassib, tennis legend Billie Jean King, and soccer champion Megan Rapinoe. In personal essays, contributors reflect on their journeys as queer people in sports. Dutch author Marieke Nijkamp describes being a nonbinary, disabled archer, Olympic medal–winning figure skater Adam Rippon writes about notions of masculinity in skating, and author Erik J. Brown emphasizes the importance of having fun, not just winning. Contributors who have experienced gender dysphoria write about creating healthier relationships with their bodies through sports. While many of these essays are largely hopeful and inspiring, the work doesn’t avoid difficult topics. For example, Jamaican American runner CeCé Telfer writes about being prevented from competing against other women at Nationals because of anti-transgender rulings. These stories from people with diverse backgrounds and identities reinforce the importance of having safe spaces to pursue one’s passion for sports. Vosseteig’s slightly stiff color portraits of the subjects and contributors are interspersed throughout. Readers will learn about the barriers and sense of belonging queer people face in pursuing athletics and the importance of representation.
Authentically illustrates the challenges and hope LGBTQ+ athletes find in the world of sports. (note on pronouns, about Title IX, contributor bios, support and advisory materials, selected sources) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9780316572002
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
A tragic, gripping, and inspiring story.
In 1979, 11-year-old Norman was the only survivor of a plane crash in Southern California: This is his true story.
This book for middle-grade readers, co-authored with Kiely, covers much of the same material as Ollestad’s 2009 memoir for adults, Crazy for the Storm. Flying in a four-seater Cessna with his father, his father’s girlfriend, Sandra, and the pilot, Norman was excited to reach Big Bear to receive his ski-racing trophy. (As a vivid example of his busy childhood, they’d driven the 300 miles there yesterday for Norman to compete—and then driven back to Topanga Canyon in the evening for his hockey game.) But the plane tragically crashed on a mountain in a blizzard. Nothing is sugarcoated; readers encounter graphic descriptions of the pilot and Norman’s dad, who died, and Sandra, who suffered a gaping head wound. Eventually accepting that he had to figure things out on his own, Norman drew upon the extreme training his father had put his “Boy Wonder” through—training that had bullied Norman into facing difficult physical and mental challenges that he feared and resented. During his trek to safety, Norman performed incredible mental and physical feats and encouraged the barely functioning Sandra—until she fell to her death. Norman’s conflicted feelings about the father he’d both idolized and resented are nuanced and satisfyingly resolved. Readers who enjoy nail-biting wilderness stories will be riveted.
A tragic, gripping, and inspiring story. (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780374392611
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
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