Best for: Anyone interested in a compelling story about how a professional athlete lives his values. In a nutshell: Former (sniff) Seattle Seahawk and current Philadelphia Eagle team member Michael Bennett shares his prospective on a wide range of topics, including the NCAA, the NFL, racism, and sexism. Lines that sticks with me: “They also tell us to stick to sports when we speak out on issues. But they don’t seem to have a problem when we’re making commercials, selling their kids sneakers they can’t […]
Where I wax lyrical about roller derby in the guise of a book review
I wouldn’t call myself a sporty person. I hated PE growing up (first thing on a Monday morning!!). Shivering on a muddy field in the freezing temperatures of northern England. The boys in their long sleeved rugby tops, us girls in short skirts and navy knickers (so archaic it’s ridiculous). The only options in winter were netball and hockey, two sports I loathed. Nothing about my physical education made me want to exercise. It wasn’t fun. It felt like a punishment. So I was as […]
Run Toward Who You Want To Be
Last month, Trevor Noah interviewed Jason Reynolds on the Daily Show and even before I had read any of his books, I became a fan. He talked about writing, reading, and young people in a powerful way and made a strong argument for the need to write books that would have spoken to him as a young teen growing up in the inner city. I’ve been a follower of the We Need Diverse Books organization and without mentioning the hashtag, Reynolds made their argument with […]
When rivalries turn into smooching.
Well, I’m not quite to the level of reading all this author’s stuff (it is very aggressively male, which I can tolerate in a sports romance, but I’m not sure about elsewhere). But I am very much in for the rest of this series. I hope it’s longer than three books. This time around, we follow Simeon Boudreaux, who we met last book as one of Gavin Brawley’s best (only) friends and teammates on the Barons, a fake New York professional football team. Simeon is a […]