Washoe County Library System

"A captivating and persuasive scientific exploration of the athletic benefits of a plant-based diet, featuring interviews with stars who've made the switch from meat to plants"--

Most of the time sports are seen as the height of competition, but often they also bring people together in times of cultural, social, and political upheaval. Jesse Owens explores the way the Olympic track athlete served to bring Americans (and citizens around the world) together against a common enemy. Includes ties to 21st Century themes, as well as infographics, timelines, glossary, and index.

A simple biography of one of the most inspirational athletes in history.

"Twenty-two notable writers-including Bob Sullivan, Abby Ellin, Mike Pesca, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Louisa Hall, and Gay Talese-examine the untold stories of the losers, and in doing so reveal something raw and significant about what it means to be human"--

"Athletic genius. All the sports journalists in the world can't explain it. Why was Michael Jordan so good? Was it just his joints and muscles? Did he just eat better breakfasts? Zach Schonbrun delivers a groundbreaking new perspective on the science of elite sporting performance. In the course of his work as a sports and business reporter at The New York Times, Zach Schonbrun came upon the research of two young entrepreneurial neuroscientists working...

Untold until now, here is the story of Black sprinter and long-jumper Willye B. White, who went from picking cotton as a child in Mississippi to competing and winning in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics. Future Olympian Willye B. White was born in 1939 in Money, Mississippi—but money was exactly what she didn’t have. Abandoned by both her parents, she worked alongside her grandparents in the cotton fields. Willye had big dreams, though. So when her...

Brandon Burlsworth is perhaps the greatest walk-on in the history of college football. Brandon had always dreamed of playing for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but was considered too short and too fat to play Division I. However, Brandon took a risk and walked on in 1994. Written off by fellow teammates and coaches, Brandon displayed dogged determination in the face of staggering odds, and proved every one who had ever doubted him wrong.

A decade ago, Hope Ann Greggory was America's sweetheart. Her inspired performance on a ruptured Achilles at the world's most prestigious gymnastics tournament clinched an unlikely bronze medal for the U.S. team. But in the years since that epic third place victory, Hope hasn't done a whole lot with her life. Now she must coach Amherst's newest gymnastics prodigy Maggie in order to receive a sizeable financial inheritance. "The Bronze isn't a brilliant...

"A beautifully observed narrative of American sport: character, grit, tragedy, unremarked heroism, and, always, the illuminating story behind the story. As a columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer, Washington Post, and Time magazine, Tom Callahan witnessed an extraordinary number of defining moments in American sport over four decades. He takes us from Roberto Clemente clinching his 3,000th, and final, regular season hit in Pittsburgh, to ringside...

"In 2021, Simone Biles shocked the world when she pulled out of the Tokyo Olympic Games after experiencing the "twisties" -- a scary feeling during which gymnasts lose control of their bodies while mid-air. Audiences had expected Simone to dominate thesegames. With seven Olympic medals, twenty-five World Championships medals, and four gymnastic skills named after her, she is considered to be the G.O.A.T. of women's gymnastics. That summer, however,...