Yes, She Can!: Women's Sports Pioneers

Good Sports

by Glenn Stout

Yes, She Can! celebrates ground-breaking female athletes who became the first—and sometimes only—women to achieve at the highest levels of their sports. Featuring Trudy Ederle, the subject of Young Woman and the Sea, the Disney+ biopic starring Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley. In this middle grade collection of sporting heroines these pioneers show girls that anything is possible with grit, determination, and practice. The ahletes

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Author of the Jazz Age true crime yarn Tiger Girl and the Candy Kid: America's Original Gangster Couple (2021), NY Times bestseller The Pats: An Illustrated History of the New England Patriots (2018) The Selling of the Babe (2016), Fenway 1912 (2012) and Young Woman the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World (2009) currently set up and in development as a major motion picture for Disney +. (ETA 2021). Since becoming a full-time writer in 1993, Glenn Stout has written, ghostwritten or edited 100 books representing sales in excess of two million copies. Stout is also author of The Cubs, The Dodgers, Nine Months at Ground Zero, Yankees Century, Red Sox Century, and has served as Series Editor of The Best American Sports Writing since its inception. Glenn also consults on a variety of writing projects (books, proposals, Longform narratives). He has won both the Seymour Medal and Ritter Award (twice) by the Society for American Baseball Research, and Yes Se Can! made the 2012 Amelia Bloom list for feminist content. He lives in Vermont.

Reviews

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could spend my review just gushing about this biographical book or I can do a really cool summary of it and hopefully get your interest. It's a short read full of fascinating information about fascinating women in sports history.

To read about the book and them, click the link below:

http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2010/...

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Author Glenn Stout's latest book, titled YES, SHE CAN!, features five female athletes who have paved the way for girls interested in the world of sports.

The five record-breaking females are swimmer Trudy Ederle, track stars Louise Stokes and Tidye Pickett, jockey Julie Krone, and Indy car racer Danica Patrick.

Trudy Ederle learned to swim at an early age and only truly felt at home while swimming and floating in sea water. Encouraged by family, friends, and coaches, she challenged herself to be the first female to swim the English Channel. After one failed attempt, she succeeded and even broke the record set by an earlier male swimmer.

In the 1930's, two female track runners broke the racial barriers in their sport. Louise Stokes from Massachusetts and Tidye Pickett of Chicago became well-known in the sport of track and field and went on to qualify for two Olympic teams. They faced hard times and unexplained prejudice, but their courage and determination to compete just like everyone else made them instrumental in opening track to not only women but, more importantly, African-American women.

Julie Krone was two years old when she rode her first horse and just a teen when she announced that she was going to be a woman jockey. With the support of her mother, Julie searched until she found a job at a race track. Her hard work and toughness helped her prove to trainers and owners that she could compete with the best male jockeys and win.

Finally, Danica Patrick represents women in the sport of Indy car racing. YES, SHE CAN! tells of her first scary ride in a go-cart and how even a crash that threw her from the cart didn't stop her from getting behind the wheel to race again. Many called her too pretty to race and claimed that her actress good looks are what actually made her popular, but Patrick's performance on the race track tells a different story.

YES, SHE CAN! is the second book in a new series, GOOD SPORTS, by Glenn Stout. He specializes in sports biographies for both kids and adults. Sports fans of all ages are sure to enjoy reading about these pioneers in sports history. Coming next in the series is SOLDIER ATHLETES in October 2011.

[Margery Bayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good anthology of real life sports stories for late elementary and middle school age. These nonfiction stories, each a chapter long, are written somewhat narrative voice. Not to the extent where there is re-imagined dialogue and scenes, but rather taking the facts and turning them into a story line that would be interesting to a young reader. I liked how the selection of women's sports pioneers were from a variety of sports and time periods and nicely chronicled the women's lives from their childhood interest in the sport, to their hard work and overcoming adversity, to failures and successes as adults, while acknowledging the women who came before them as well as the precedent the set for future female athletes.

There is also a few nice pages of batter matter in the book including sources, further reading on each of the athletes, and lists of their wins and honors.

I am going to use this as a rec for Summer Reading this year, which is going to have an athletics/health theme.

[Kalynn S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book Yes She Can by Glenn Stout and I would rate this book a 5 out of 5. This book is not just for girls but boys can learn something from it too. This book contains 5 different stories, and each tell a story about how a women has succeeded in sport that so many told them it was only a male sport. The book tell girls that anything that you set your mine to you can do, and shows the boys that the girls can do it too. I recommend it to all readers, and not just the girls.