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Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams



by
Lesa Cline-Ransome
illustrated by
James E. Ransome

Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Imprint
Paula Wiseman
ISBN
9781481476843

Awards and Honors
ALSC Notable Children's Books - 2019
CCBC Choices 2019 Choice: Contemporary People, Places, and Events
CSMCL Best Books - 2018
Booklist Top 10 Sports Books for Youth 2018
NYPL Best Books for Kids - 2018
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Discrimination: Racial Insensitivity/Racism
$6.00   $5.00
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QTY
Out of stock

As children in Compton, California, Venus and Serena Williams had to sweep the courts before they could practice. Sisters, competitors, friends—they became two of the greatest tennis players of all time. Afterword. Source notes. Selected bibliography. Further reading. Full-color illustrations rendered in cut paper, pencil, and acrylic paints.

POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Discrimination: Racial Insensitivity/Racism

Details

Format

Print

Page Count

48

Trim Size

9" x 11"

Dewey

796.342092/2 B

AR

6: points 0.5

Lexile

1030L

Genre

Nonfic

Scholastic Reading Counts

3

JLG Release

Oct 2018

Book Genres


Topics

Venus Williams (1980– ). Serena Williams (1981– ). Tennis. US African American women tennis players. Biography. Sports. Siblings. Sisters.

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Praise & Reviews

Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:

Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal*, Publishers Weekly, The Horn Book Magazine, Booklist*

Horn Book

Wife-and-husband team Cline-Ransome and Ransome celebrate tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, focusing on their formative childhoods and the way their preparation and talent fundamentally changed the game. Cline-Ransome’s chronological account begins with the sisters’ pre-dawn practices in Compton, California, sweeping the public courts of garbage and broken glass before applying themselves with phenomenal dedication (“By the time Venus was four she could hit five hundred tennis balls at every practice”; “When gunshots rang out in the distance, [their father] Richard reminded them, ‘Never mind the noise. Just play’”). As they grow and improve, moving from their family’s private coaching to the professional tour, they become the dominant force in women’s tennis and find themselves playing against each other with increasing frequency. Ransome’s detailed collages reflect this shift. Early illustrations show the girls close together, dressed in like colors with similar hairstyles. As the story progresses, the sisters are positioned apart, wearing different colors, until as young women they find themselves on opposite sides of the net, their separation emphasized by the book’s low, wide trim size. The final spread, showing them on the same side of the net, holding hands, after Serena bested Venus in the 2002 French Open, communicates the sisters’ ultimate devotion to each other. Thorough back matter—including an afterword, source notes, a selected bibliography, and further reading—is appended. -Thom Barthelmess, Horn Book

Praise & Reviews

Horn Book

Wife-and-husband team Cline-Ransome and Ransome celebrate tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, focusing on their formative childhoods and the way their preparation and talent fundamentally changed the game. Cline-Ransome’s chronological account begins with the sisters’ pre-dawn practices in Compton, California, sweeping the public courts of garbage and broken glass before applying themselves with phenomenal dedication (“By the time Venus was four she could hit five hundred tennis balls at every practice”; “When gunshots rang out in the distance, [their father] Richard reminded them, ‘Never mind the noise. Just play’”). As they grow and improve, moving from their family’s private coaching to the professional tour, they become the dominant force in women’s tennis and find themselves playing against each other with increasing frequency. Ransome’s detailed collages reflect this shift. Early illustrations show the girls close together, dressed in like colors with similar hairstyles. As the story progresses, the sisters are positioned apart, wearing different colors, until as young women they find themselves on opposite sides of the net, their separation emphasized by the book’s low, wide trim size. The final spread, showing them on the same side of the net, holding hands, after Serena bested Venus in the 2002 French Open, communicates the sisters’ ultimate devotion to each other. Thorough back matter—including an afterword, source notes, a selected bibliography, and further reading—is appended. -Thom Barthelmess, Horn Book

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