Twelve aspirational biographies of American sports stars – well, eleven, plus Messi. They all start with a data page and image as if they were on a collectable card, and then we get a few illustrated pages of their story and what it teaches us about sticking to our guns, or ignoring racism, or helping team mates. It's standard fare, but it's done well, and includes names that certainly aren't always talked about in such books (ie it's pretty exclusively for a USA audience only). For those in need of such life stories, a decent four stars.

As a school Librarian I love bringing what the kids love into the library. This book, is a nonfiction, sports dream! The author and illustrator did a phenomenal job with this book. The kids love books about sports and their favorite athletes. In this book you get stats and info about the athletes along with a short inspiring story. This book is perfect for grades 4-8. I would recommend this book to any middle grade child that loves sports. I hope to get a copy for my school library for my students to enjoy.

4 ⭐

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Zeitgeist and the author for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really really liked the format of this. I'm a big sports enthusiast, and as I said in other reviews I'm always on the lookout for new cool books for my nephew. This is definitely one I will take into consideration for the future.

The book, as stated in the title, presents the stories of 12 different athletes, from a variety of sports, in a way that can grab the attention of a child. I feel like this does a good job in sharing the facts and making them enjoyable for the children. I also really liked the illustrations for each athlete, they are beautiful and capture perfectly these important figures.

The additional 12 athletes to follow in the future was a nice touch, I appreciated it a lot.