Skateboarding

April 15, 2013
Grades 9-12 Books about sports for teens usually feature lots of pictures and just enough text to cover the subject, but the Greenwood Guides to Extreme Sports series takes the opposite approach: these books are for students looking for substantial amounts of written information as well as sociological analysis. They highlight the tension between the individual nature of extreme sports, which tend to be about one person challenging himself or herself, versus the advertiser interest in using them to appeal to certain audiences. The tone is academic, citing sources throughout, with lengthy bibliographies, an austere design, just a few black-and-white pictures, and no page ornamentation. Each book discusses the sport's history, equipment needs, and the science behind the sport while also featuring short biographies of the important athletes past and present. Skateboarding conveys enthusiasm for the sport along with plenty of historical detail and a time line to put things in perspective. High-school students with a heavy interest in these sports and a willingness to read should find these very useful.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)