Today’s Cybils nominee is biographic anthology WE GOT GAME: 35 Female Athletes who Changed the World by Aileen Weintraub and Sarah Green, tells the whole story of why we should look up to these talented ladies on and off the field/rink/slope/court/etc.

Elephant in the room: Being a professional athlete has a much earlier expiration date than less-interesting carers.

These ladies’ advocacy work during and after their athletic peaks, as well as their work to “ride the elevator to the top floor and send it back down” are given as much ink as their athletic prowess, and I can’t say enough about how much children need to hear this message.

Loved

• “Chapters” are 2-3 pages, short and consumable but packed with facts.
• Weintraub gives “sports” is given a much broader definition than when I was a child. Less-popular sports like fencing, skiing, surfing, NASCAR, etc are featured, which gives kids who don’t do team sports/ball sports a seat at the table they don’t always get.*
• Athletes and the obstacles they faced – disability (Tatyana McFadden, Bethany Hamilton), extremesexism (Diane Crump), subtle and coded racism (Wilma Rudolph, Misty Copeland, and every other non-white American athlete in this book), religious discrimination (Ibtihaj Muhammad) – are discussed matter-of-factly.
• Messages of inclusion, perseverance, hard work, and empathy are woven throughout.
• This book design is gorgeous; the Amazing Facts & Unbelieveable Stats add visual interest to every story.

((Billie Jean King pic))

Verdict

This book is a fabulous keepsake gift for the young jock in your life this holiday season.

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*If I would rather get Covid again than play a ball sport fo 2 minutes, but lettered in Track and ran 20 miles a week until my spine was destroyed – how was I NOT an athlete?