Monica Seles

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5These are snapshot books, more like lavishly illustrated magazine articles than biographies. Each title contains 9 pages of large-print text and 11 pages of clear, full-color photographs that show the tennis stars in action. Seles focuses on the athlete's success and her tragic stabbing followed by her heroic comeback. Sampras discusses the player's ranking and his many major victories. Not much information about the lives of either of these sports wunderkinder is provided, except that Seles is from Yugoslavia and lives in Florida and that Sampras was devoted to one of his coaches who had a brain tumor. The photographs are the standouts here, telling a pictorial story about the dedication and skill of these players. These titles are adequate for reluctant readers who love tennis; otherwise, they are attractive but expendable.Steve Matthews, Foxcroft School, Middleburg, VA