Roar: A Celebration of Great Sporting Women – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Top tips from famous faces.
YA book title: Roar: A Celebration of Great Sporting Women.
YA author: Roar: Sam Quek.
Genre: Teen non-fiction.
Published by: Allen & Unwin.
ISBN: 9781838959173.
Recommended for children aged: 12+ year-olds.
First published: Paperback June 2024 .
This children’s book is ideal for: sporty teens.
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Our review:
It is perhaps staggering that such a title is still needed, and yet once you dive into these sporting stories, you realise how many barriers female athletes still face when trying to reach the top in their chosen sport, and so Roar: A Celebration of Great Sporting Women is both timely and, hopefully, a reminder to all those working within sport to keep pushing on.
For the readers themselves, this is a detailed exploration of 12 female figures of significance across a wide range of sports. The selections have been made with thought and are truly inclusive, covering both able and para-athletes, different backgrounds and access to sport, and females from different generations.
In each case, readers are given details of the individual’s achievements, but also, perhaps just as critically, the struggles they faced on their way to the top. It is this aspect that makes the interviews appealing, as they all speak with staggering honesty about the hurdles they had to overcome – and the places to mine for inner strength when all seems lost. These are inspiring tales; some focus on physical inequalities that had to be addressed, while others focus more on what the individual can bring to a situation – but all readers would struggle to walk away from this read without feeling a sense of renewed optimism and a belief in what is possible if you are prepared to work hard.
Although the title is obviously aimed directly at teen girls, I would argue that it is just as relevant for teen boys too. Some of the inequalities that are detailed, and the relatively recent dates, which make the revelations all the more astounding, are exactly what we need boys to read and react to as well – if we are ever to reach genuine parity.
Our verdict:
Roar: A Celebration of Great Sporting Women is great to dip into in reading groups, or citizenship or tutor time sessions, to help open conversations with teens about the challenges they face, whose footsteps they might follow in, and what can guide them in testing times.
Many thanks to Allen & Unwin for the review copy.
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If you like Roar: A Celebration of Great Sporting Women by Sam Quek you might also like: Sports Legends: 50 Inspiring People by Rick Broadbent, How to Ace Your Exams by Matthew Burton, Be Resilient by Nicola Morgan, The Rise of the Lionesses by Flo Lloyd-Hughes and What is Right and Wrong by Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young.
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