Tag Archives: Tennis

Elem./MG/YA – Sports Strategies (Series NF)

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Sports Strategies. Abdo Books, 2024. $24.95 ea. $199.60 set of 8. 48 p. Grades 3-9. 

Auto Racing Strategies. 978-1-09829-241-6.
Baseball Strategies. 978-1-09829-242-3.
Basketball Strategies. 978-1-09829-243-0.
Football Strategies. 978-1-09829-244-7.
Hockey Strategies. 978-1-09829-245-4.
Mixed Martial Arts Strategies. 978-1-09829-246-1.
Soccer Strategies. 978-1-09829-247-8.
Tennis Strategies. 978-1-09829-248-5.

The focus of the 8-book nonfiction series is an in-depth look at strategies for various sports. Sports covered are: auto racing, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, mixed martial arts, soccer, and tennis. The series covers how the best teams execute their plans and strategies throughout history. Each book has engaging images along with an informative text that will appeal to students. The book concludes with a glossary, online resources, additional information, and an index.

THOUGHTS: This series is a good addition to enhance elementary and middle school library collections seeking to update their sports collections. It is labeled as Hi-Lo nonfiction, so it would be a good addition to a high school library.

700s Sports

Elem. – Perfect Match: The Story of Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton

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Dubbin, Lori. Perfect Match: The Story of Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton. Illustrated by Amanda Quartey. Kar-Ben Publishing, 2024. 979-8-765-60300-0. Unpaged. $19.99. Grades K-3. 

Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton are two female tennis players that were discriminated against for different reasons; Althea because she was black and Angela because she was Jewish. Both women worked hard on their game and ended up meeting when they were invited on a tennis tour for their respective countries. The two women quickly became friends and ended up becoming a doubles team and winning a doubles trophy at Wimbledon in 1956! There is an extensive author’s note at the end of the book with photographs of both women competing at Wimbledon.

THOUGHTS: I had never heard of either of these women before I started reading this book, and I feel that might be most readers’ experiences unless they are super into tennis. This is a great introduction to these two women, or would be a great way to introduce doing some research about lesser known women in sports. Highly recommended for any elementary collection, or even a middle school depending on research projects. 

796.342 Tennis

Elem. – Talkin’ Sports (Series Nonfiction)

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Talkin’ Sports. The Child’s World, 2020. $20.00 ea. $160 set of 8. 24 p. Grades 3-6. 

Buckley, James. Talkin’ Baseball. 978-150383-571-9.
—. Talkin’ Basketball. 978-150383-574-0.
—. Talkin’ Lacrosse. 978-150383-576-4.
—. Talkin’ Motor Sports. 978-150383-577-1.
—. Talkin’ Soccer. 978-150383-573-3.
Gigliotti, Jim. Talkin’ Football. 978-150383-572-6.
—. Talkin’ Golf & Tennis. 978-150383-578-8.
—. Talkin’ Hockey. 978-150383-575-7.

“Play sports? Watch sports? Talk sports!” That’s the tagline for this series highlighting special sports terms, insider phrases, comical or descriptive terms, and player nicknames. Fans of these sports will want to check up on their lingo–historical and modern-day–and add some understanding to their use of it as they go. They may even think of plenty more to add to the mix. For example, “The slugger ripped a frozen rope into the gap and pulled up with a two-bagger.” Baseball translation: “A powerful hitter smashed a line drive (further defined) between two outfielders (further defined) & ran to second base.” These books will cause laughter, and comments such as, “that’s right” or “I didn’t know that was why…” as fans feel a bit more at home watching, playing, and talking sports. For the uninitiated, these books can solidify the lingo.

THOUGHTS: A fun series suitable for upper elementary and middle school. ( Titles reviewed: Talkin’ Baseball and Talkin’ Football.)

796 Sports          Melissa Scott, Shenango Area SD