One Life: Young Readers Edition

Gr 4-7–Two-time World Cup soccer champion Rapinoe encourages a young audience to stand up and speak out against injustice in this adaptation of her memoir. Rapinoe chronicles her love for soccer from early childhood through her professional career. As kids, Rapinoe and her twin sister played soccer with boys’ teams in Redding, CA, until they were able to travel to Sacramento where there were more competitive options for girls. Rapinoe weathered season-ending injuries and disagreements with coaches to become one of the best athletes in the world. Publicly coming out as lesbian began Rapinoe’s involvement in activism. She became an important voice in the fight for marriage equality, and was one of the first athletes to “take a knee” during the National Anthem following the example of Colin Kaepernick and others. Rapinoe also became a vocal advocate for salary increases for female athletes. Sports lovers will relish action-packed scenes from the final minutes of championship games. Photographs from Rapinoe’s life on and off the soccer pitch are featured between chapters. Younger readers may need to engage in discussion with adults regarding some of the topics in this memoir, including descriptions of violence against Black bodies at the hands of police and drug use by Rapinoe’s older brother who struggled with addiction during her adolescence.