Uncommon Champions

October 1, 2000
Gr 6-9-A collection of 15 short essays on athletes who have overcome various physical, mental, and socioeconomic difficulties to excel in their chosen sports. While some situations are more familiar and contemporary (runner Gail Devers's battle with Graves disease and professional soccer player Michelle Akers's Epstein-Barr virus), most will be unknown to young readers. These include Ruben Gonzalez's rise from an impoverished childhood in gang-ridden Spanish Harlem to racquetball champion and 1980's basketball star John Lucas's battle with drugs. The more obscure entries bring forward many brave stories that deserve to be told. Unfortunately, the many weaknesses of this book outweigh its strengths. Factual errors include identifying the ruins at Machu Picchu as Mayan rather than Incan, and referring to Akers as "Mustafa" instead of the correct Lion King reference of "Mufasa." The writing shifts between sappy and simplistic; there are fictionalized conversations; and only about half of the entries rate a single photograph. Worse, there is no bibliography or any indication of sources.-Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2000
Gr. 5-8. Kaminsky profiles 15 athletes who have dealt with adversity (either physical or mental) and fought back. The subjects, a mix of male and female athletes, represent a variety of sports (from mountain climbing to soccer to baseball), and a wide range of misfortunes (from blindness to chronic fatigue syndrome to drug addiction). A full-page, black-and-white photo is included for most subjects, a few of whom are still well known today (Michelle Akers, Chris Zorich, Zina Garrison). Some of the choices seem surprising (for instance, cyclist Greg LeMond instead of Lance Armstrong), but overall the coverage is fair. Chapters are short, and the writing style is straightforward, which should appeal to reluctant readers. Kaminsky also describes the early life and sports careers of the individuals as well as the difficulties they had to confront. An inviting choice for browsers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)