They Better Call Me Sugar

March 1, 2021
WNBA champion Rodgers reflects on her childhood and road to athletic glory. Written in accessible, colloquial, first-person language, Rodgers' story is presented with a raw focus on her childhood growing up as the youngest daughter of a big, extended family in Williamstown, a neighborhood in Suffolk, Virginia. Through short chapters filled with anecdotal insights, Rodgers talks about the influence her mother had on her engagement with sports, including golf and, eventually, her passion for basketball. Although her early life proved to be chaotic, with community members in and out of jail around her, Rodgers' mother was a stabilizing agent, preparing her to train, learn, and grow as an athlete and a young woman; indeed, the book is dedicated to her mother's memory. Rodgers also acknowledges coaches, family members, and friends who have made an impact on her career, enriching her journey through the connections they made. She acknowledges the people who supported her triumphs and shared her challenges, staying by her side no matter what. Encouraging tidbits will stay with readers, such as, "Stars are stars because they work hard even when the lights are not on." Although the chapters are short and easy to engage with, they end abruptly, leaving each section feeling disconnected. Some anecdotes wander widely, never coming back to find a focus to tie everything together. Disjointed storytelling fouls the play, but this memoir still has a bold bounce. (Memoir. 14-18)

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March 15, 2021
Grades 9-12 Ta'Shauna Rodgers, better known as Sugar, grew up in a Suffolk, Virginia, neighborhood where poverty, drug dealing, and incarceration were familiar facts of life, counterbalanced by her strong family ties. Athletic and motivated to work hard, she first excelled at golf and then at basketball. When her house was condemned and her mother was sent to a nursing home, Sugar was taken in by her coach and a series of relatives. After high school, she was recruited to play basketball at Georgetown. Despite feeling far away from her family while dealing with a demanding collegiate athletic program, rigorous academic classes, and depression, Sugar succeeded and now plays basketball in the WNBA. In the final chapter, she acknowledges achieving her initial objectives, "getting out of the hood and living through my talents," but she now has a new goal: sharing her story with others. She certainly accomplishes that in this raw, compelling memoir of a girl growing up in difficult circumstances but with the wits, confidence, and drive that made her an All-Star. An inspiring autobiography.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 19, 2021
In 31 intimate, accessibly voiced if transition-lacking chapters, Las Vegas Aces guard Ta’Shauna “Sugar” Rodgers recounts her life, from her youth “surrounded by drugs and violence” in Suffolk, Va., to her current career with the Women’s National Basketball Association. Born in 1989 to Barbara Mae “Bob Mae” Rodgers, the beloved “best candy lady on the block,” Sugar grew up a tomboy in a single-parent household with her older siblings and other family members, discovering a gift for sports despite her mother’s wish that she concentrate on her studies. Bob Mae “worked two jobs and lived on food stamps to make ends meet,” but Sugar reminisces on the good times her family had. Bob Mae also provides encouragement through Sugar’s early golf career, as Sugar meets Tiger Woods, features in his foundation’s Coca-Cola commercial, and later represents his team in a California invitational. With her sister in jail and her mother beginning to succumb to lupus, Sugar’s home life degrades, but she perseveres to attend college and reach the WNBA. Clearly illustrating her mother’s strong influence and her supportive community, Rodgers pulls no punches in this raw, emotional rags-to-riches memoir. Ages 11–up.