Meet Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky! Ledecky's life story is examined from her childhood in Maryland where she began swimming at age six, to three US Junior Championships. Learn about Ledecky's Olympic career in the London and Rio de Janeiro games throughout which she won five gold and one silver medals. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Big Buddy Books is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
"Katie Ledecky: Swimming's Golden Girl" narrates the extraordinary story of the young US swimmer who stunned the world by capturing gold at the 2012 Olympics. Since the London Games, the popular role model has dominated ladies swimming with her powerful swimming and winning attitude. A children's biography accompanied by breathtaking illustrations, "Katie Ledecky: Swimming's Golden Girl" offers an in-depth look at the swimmer who is expected to reign at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The stirring story of Ledecky's meteoric rise to the top will captivate and inspire young readers.
The instant New York Times bestseller and companion book to the PBS series. “Absolutely brilliant . . . A necessary and moving work.” —Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Begin Again “Engaging. . . . In Gates’s telling, the Black church shines bright even as the nation itself moves uncertainly through the gloaming, seeking justice on earth—as it is in heaven.” —Jon Meacham, New York Times Book Review From the New York Times bestselling author of Stony the Road and The Black Box, and one of our most important voices on the African American experience, comes a powerful new history of the Black church as a foundation of Black life and a driving force in the larger freedom struggle in America. For the young Henry Louis Gates, Jr., growing up in a small, residentially segregated West Virginia town, the church was a center of gravity—an intimate place where voices rose up in song and neighbors gathered to celebrate life's blessings and offer comfort amid its trials and tribulations. In this tender and expansive reckoning with the meaning of the Black Church in America, Gates takes us on a journey spanning more than five centuries, from the intersection of Christianity and the transatlantic slave trade to today’s political landscape. At road’s end, and after Gates’s distinctive meditation on the churches of his childhood, we emerge with a new understanding of the importance of African American religion to the larger national narrative—as a center of resistance to slavery and white supremacy, as a magnet for political mobilization, as an incubator of musical and oratorical talent that would transform the culture, and as a crucible for working through the Black community’s most critical personal and social issues. In a country that has historically afforded its citizens from the African diaspora tragically few safe spaces, the Black Church has always been more than a sanctuary. This fact was never lost on white supremacists: from the earliest days of slavery, when enslaved people were allowed to worship at all, their meetinghouses were subject to surveillance and destruction. Long after slavery’s formal eradication, church burnings and bombings by anti-Black racists continued, a hallmark of the violent effort to suppress the African American struggle for equality. The past often isn’t even past—Dylann Roof committed his slaughter in the Mother Emanuel AME Church 193 years after it was first burned down by white citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, following a thwarted slave rebellion. But as Gates brilliantly shows, the Black church has never been only one thing. Its story lies at the heart of the Black political struggle, and it has produced many of the Black community’s most notable leaders. At the same time, some churches and denominations have eschewed political engagement and exemplified practices of exclusion and intolerance that have caused polarization and pain. Those tensions remain today, as a rising generation demands freedom and dignity for all within and beyond their communities, regardless of race, sex, or gender. Still, as a source of faith and refuge, spiritual sustenance and struggle against society’s darkest forces, the Black Church has been central, as this enthralling history makes vividly clear.
This title introduces readers to Katie Ledecky, providing exciting details about her life and going deep inside the key moments of her swimming career. The title also features informative "fast facts," a timeline, and a glossary. SportsZone is an imprint of Abdo Publishing Company.
Katie Ledecky shot to fame at an early age. By age 15, she had already won a gold medal at the Olympics! So how did this incredible swimmer rise to the top? In this fascinating introduction, young readers will learn about Ledecky's early life and her many amazing achievements. Each 24-page book in this series of introductory biographies features controlled text with age-appropriate vocabulary and simple sentence construction. The narrative text, clean design, and colorful photos will speak to even the most reluctant of readers. of readers.
Sports are an amazing environment in which to raise children. The benefits they gain from athletic participation are many, including physical, personal, and social. Yet, there is also a dark side to today’s youth sports culture, as an emphasis on winning has made what was once fun become a burden for many young athletes. As a result, parents can’t always be certain their children’s athletic involvement will be safe and enjoyable. In Raising Young Athletes: Parenting Your Children to Victory in Sports and Life, Dr. Jim Taylor—an internationally-recognized authority on sport psychology, child development, and parenting—offers a guiding hand to help parents ensure their children’s sports participation encourages positive attitudes and promotes healthy developments as they move toward adulthood. The role of parents in shaping their children’s sports experience has never been more important, and Dr. Taylor shows parents how to send the right messages to their young athletes with clear and practical advice. Whether playing sports just for fun or with aspirations to play professionally, Raising Young Athletes helps parents steer their children toward a healthy, positive experience. As such, their participation will become an impactful part of their lives that will prepare them to be victorious both in sports and in life.
In her extraordinary swimming career, Shirley Babashoff set thirty-nine national records and eleven world records. Prior to the 1990s, she was the most successful U.S. female Olympian and, in her prime, was widely considered to be the greatest female swimmer in the world. Heading into the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Babashoff was pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and followed closely by the media. Hopes were high that she would become “the female Mark Spitz.” All of that changed once Babashoff questioned the shocking masculinity of the swimmers on the East German women’s team. Once celebrated as America’s golden girl, Babashoff was accused of poor sportsmanship and vilified by the press with a new nickname: “Surly Shirley.” Making Waves displays the remarkable strength and resilience that made Babashoff such a dynamic champion. From her difficult childhood and beginnings as a determined young athlete growing up in Southern California in the 1960s, through her triumphs as the greatest female amateur swimmer in the world, Babashoff tells her story in the same unflinching manner that made her both the most dominant female swimmer of her time and one of the most controversial athletes in Olympic history.
In a candid and uplifting memoir, international swimming star Beard reveals the truth about coming of age in the Olympic spotlight, the demons she battled along the way, and her newfound happiness.
Book Features: • Ages 8-11, Grades 3-5, Guided Reading Level Q, Lexile 910L • 32 pages, 7 inches x 9 inches • Simple, easy-to-read pages with full-color pictures • Includes vocabulary list and review activities • Reading/teaching tips and index included Life Of A Champion: In Women in Sports: Chloe Kim, your 3rd through 5th grade reader will learn about the dedication and passion it took Kim to win several medals in the X Games and become the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal. Inspirational: With captivating photos that bring Kim’s story to life, young readers will learn how she has pushed the boundaries of her sport with spectacular tricks and has used her fame to speak out about bullying and climate change. Build Reading Skills: This engaging 32-page light biography will help your child improve comprehension and build confidence with guided pre- and post-reading questions, close reading prompts, in-text vocabulary definitions, and a fun review activity. Leveled Books: Part of the Women in Sports series, this lower reading level biography and full-color pictures make the story of this amazing female athlete easily comprehendible for kids as they follow along in this engaging story. Why Rourke Educational Media: Since 1980, Rourke Publishing Company has specialized in publishing engaging and diverse non-fiction and fiction books for children in a wide range of subjects that support reading success on a level that has no limits.
