April 1, 2020
Gr 3-5-These Olympics guides are ready to deliver 2020 Games content early. The straightforward writing style is simple but not boring, engaging readers with informative overviews of the events. Individual Sports of the Summer Games covers many of the individual events and also includes team sports like synchronized swimming, veering slightly off topic to cover a lesser-known competitive sport. The team sports books dig into all the big events like basketball and hockey. Sports of the Paralympic Games addresses how "paralympic" is a portmanteau of "paraplegic" and "Olympics" and mentions that "para" also means "alongside" in Greek. The narrative of each story is well composed, but for readers who need brain breaks, there are sidebars and groan-worthy sports jokes. Perhaps most importantly, controversy is not ignored; the mention of the many years of sexual abuse by the USA Gymnastics doctor is a brief but critical admission. VERDICT Highly recommended.
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