Monica Seles

VOYA - Nancy Thackaberry

Both of these books begin with a portrayal of each athlete at the height of his or her career and then introduce their particular setback: Seles, a courtside stabbing and the resulting trauma; O'Brien, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), various injuries, and trauma as a result of failure. Each athlete's personal and athletic careers are described, including how their friends and family worked together to help these young people in Overcoming the Odds, the title of this series. This series is excellent for a first elementary biography report or for a middle level high interest/low reading level reader because it goes beyond the hero worship-type biography so often published. The specific sports terms are explained within the text to the non-athlete. A chart of Seles's Grand Slam Records is helpful in understanding where all the tournaments fit into the big tennis picture. A chart of career highlights completes each book. Most commendable is the diverse range of sports covered in this series, but the most obviously missing include women's NBA basketball and women's Olympic hockey. Other titles in the series focus on Bo Jackson, Gail Devers, Greg LeMond, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jim Abbott, Jim Eisenreich, Julie Krone, Lee Trevino, Mario Lemieux, and Paul Anzinger. Index. Illus. Photos. Charts. Further Reading. Chronology. Note: This review was written and published to address two titles: Dan O'Brien and Monica Seles. VOYA Codes: 5Q 4P M J (Hard to imagine it being any better written, Broad general YA appeal, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).