by Rachel Ignotofsky (Author)
Illustrated profiles of fifty pioneering female athletes, from the author of the New York Times bestseller Women in Science.
Women for the win! A richly illustrated and inspiring book, Women in Sports highlights the achievements and stories of fifty notable women athletes from the 1800s to today, including trailblazers, Olympians, and record-breakers in more than forty sports. The athletes featured include well-known figures like tennis player Billie Jean King and gymnast Simone Biles, as well as lesser-known champions like Toni Stone, the first woman to play baseball in a professional men's league, and skateboarding pioneer Patti McGee. The book also contains infographics on topics that sporty women want to know about such as muscle anatomy, a timeline ofwomen's participation in sports, pay and media statistics for female athletes, and influential women's teams. Women in Sports celebrates the success of the tough, bold, and fearless women who paved the way for today's athletes.WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Gr 4 Up--Utterly browsable and completely engaging, this collection of 50 female athletes offers up brief glimpses into the lives and careers of a relatively diverse group of women. Wandering far off the well-beaten path of familiar names (Billie Jean King, Wilma Rudolph, Mia Hamm), the book also highlights women who excelled (or currently excel) at less traditional activities, such as roller derby (Ann Calvello), archery (Kim Soo-Nyung), bodybuilding (Bev Francis), and refereeing (Violet Palmer). Ignotofsky clearly made every effort to scour the globe and include athletes from many different countries. Each spread profiles an individual and features a page-length description of background and career high points, a quote from the athlete, and a cheerful illustration captioned with additional facts. Organized chronologically by the athletes' birth year, this compendium, taken as a whole, is a captivating look at the history of women in sports, emphasizing that no individual athlete is more or less important than the next. Information about anatomy, pay inequalities between men and women, and other related topics can be found throughout. The writing is accessible to a wide range of readers, and the material is concise and orderly, often leaving readers wanting more. Fortunately, a thorough bibliography is appended, making it easy to dive deeper into the lives of some of these fascinating trailblazers. VERDICT This title is as edifying as it is entertaining; a timely addition to nonfiction collections.--Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA
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