
We continue our month of great biographies with some biographies and autobiographies about famous athletes. Sports books are often the best way to get boys to read, but I also included some inspiring biographies about women athletes as well. Forgive me, but I had to include a new book written by Derek Jeter, shortstop of the Yankees. He is one of our hometown heroes and does a lot of good in our community with his Turn To Foundation. Every year he comes to town and meets and talks with many of our community's children. Year after year, he inspires children to do their best.
That is what the best children's biographies do--serve as inspiration to readers. You can find short biographies of athletes on many websites. Here are just a couple of good ones: Ducksters.com and Biography.com. Biography.com has videos on the site which will be helpful for reluctant readers, but there are also advertisements on the site.
PB means picture book or easy reader; MR means middle reader (grades 408) and YA means high school readers.
Most of these books can be found at your local library. Some are available for your ereader. Enjoy!
General
MR Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, Spills (And What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull. The lives of 20 famous athletes.
Baseball
PB Teammates by Peter Golenbock. Tells the story of the friendship between Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese.
PB Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth by Robert Burleigh. Biography of the first great baseball player.
MR Heroes of Baseball by Robert Lipsyte. Short biographies of several baseball players.
MR A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson by Michelle Y. Green. Mamie Johnson was one of only three women to play pro baseball in the Negro Leagues.
YA The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams by Derek Jeter. An autobiography by the famous New York Yankees pitcher.
Basketball
PB Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream by Roslyn Jordan. A picture book of the famous basketball player.
MR Michael Jordan: A Life Above the Rim by Robert Lipsyte. The true story of the amazing athlete.
YA My Losing Season: A Memoir by Pat Conroy. A famous author tells about his last season as a college basketball player.
YA Counting Coup by Larry Colton. A winning season on a girl's basketball team made up of Native American and White teenage girls.
Football
PB Family Huddle by Peyton Manning. A family story from the childhood of Peyton Manning.
MR Sports Illustrated Football's Greatest by the editors of Sports Illustrated. Short biographies of famous football players.
YA Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger. A town shaped by its football team.
YA Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer. The biography of the football player turned soldier who was killed in Afghanistan.
Hockey
PB Hockey Hotshots: Young Stars of the NHL by Steele Filipek. Easy reader profile of NHL players.
MR Sidney Crosby: Hockey Superstar by Matt Doeden. How Crosby became a Stanley Cup champion.
MR On the Ice with Wayne Grettzky by Matt Christopher. The life of the legendary hockey player.
Soccer
PB Hope Solo: My Story by Hope Solo. An autobiography for young readers.
MR The Beautiful Game: The World's Greatest Players and How Soccer Changed Their Lives by Tom Watts. Profiles of several of the world's best players.
YA Messi: The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became a Legend by Luca Laioli. Lional Messi is only 24, and he is already a legend.
Track and Field
PB Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull. Picture book biography of the famous runner.
YA Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine by Tom Jordan. For four years Pre was the best runner in the U.S,
YA The Best that I Can Be by Rafer Johnson. Tells the classic athletic story about hard work, success, and glory.
Other Sports
MR Hawk: Occupation Skateboarder by Tony Hawk. A memoir by the famous skateboarder.
MR The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers. An illustrated biography of the boxing great.
YA I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler by Ted Lewin. The children's author tells about an unusual year in his life.
YA Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox. The adventures of a long-distance swimmer.
