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Starred Review LGBTQ+ Athletes Claim the Field

Striving for Equality

  • Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 12
  • Reading Level: Grade 8

In 2015, the world watched as soccer star Abby Wambach kissed her wife after the US women’s World Cup victory. Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league first baseman David Denson came out as gay. And Caitlyn Jenner, an Olympic decathlete, came out as transgender.

It hasn’t always been this way. Many great athletes have stayed in the closet their whole lives, or at least until retirement. Social attitudes, institutional policies, and laws are slow to change, but they are catching up. Together, athletes, families, educators, allies, and fans are pushing for competitive equity so that every athlete, regardless of identity, can have the opportunity to play at their very best.

Format Your Price Add
978-1-4677-8012-4
 $25.99
978-1-5124-2068-5
 $38.99
Available at all major wholesalers and distributors. Save 25% off list price on hardcovers and ebooks when you buy direct! Digital purchases will be accessed on Lerner Digital Bookshelf. An account will be created for you after purchase.
Interest Level Grade 6 - Grade 12
Reading Level Grade 8
Genre Social Studies, Young Adult
Category Diverse Books: LGBTQIA+, Diverse Books: Social Justice, Diversity
Copyright 2017
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Twenty-First Century Books ™
Language English
Number of Pages 104
Publication Date 2016-08-01
Reading Counts! Level 11.7
Text Type Informational/Explanatory
BISACS YAN032000, YAN053000, YAN051180
Dewey 796.086/64
Dimensions 7 x 9
Lexile 1230
ATOS Reading Level 8.6
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 182908
Accelerated Reader® Points 4.0
Features Awards, Bibliography/further reading, Foreword, Glossary, Index, Primary source quotations/images, Reviewed, Source notes, Starred Reviews, Table of contents, Teaching Guides, Timeline, and eSource

Awards

  • Minnesota Book Award Finalist, Short-listed, 2017
  • Booklist Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction for Youth, Winner, 2017
  • Notable Award ALA Rainbow List, Winner, 2016

Reviews

Starred Review Booklist

Reviewed on 1 September 2016

“[A] valuable survey of the status of LGBTQ+ athletes. . . . Happily, [Cronn-Mills] humanizes these issues. . . . [H]ers is an important contribution to the blossoming field of LGBTQ literature.”—starred, Booklist

School Library Journal

Reviewed on 1 July 2016

“This brief and up-to-date overview . . . reinforce[s] the message that athletics are for everyone. . . . For libraries with strong interest in sports history or LGBTQIA topics.”—School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed on 1 June 2016

“The positive tone and multitude of examples create the optimistic belief that LGBTQ athletes will be able to be true to themselves while competing in their chosen sport. High appeal for both athletes and those who support LGBTQ rights.”—Kirkus Reviews