Sheen, Barbara. Michael Phelps

Sheen, Barbara Michael Phelps
Lucent Books see Gale/Cengage 2010 96p 33.45
978-1-4205-0282-4 ms/hs Phelps, Michael, Swimming VG-BNS
People in the News (Gale/Lucent)


Part of a series of biographies on some of today’s “most prominent newsmakers,” this is a well-rounded book about the personal life and swimming career of Michael Phelps. Michael Phelps is one of the premier swimming stars of the twenty-first century and one of the members of the 2008 United States Olympic Swim Team. In Beijing, Phelps won an incredible eight gold medals, a feat never previously accomplished. This book covers his life from his earliest days watching his older sisters practice and compete in the pool to the discovery of his incredible talent and his quest for Olympic glory. The book gives an evenhanded picture of a nice young man who is incredibly self-competitive and determined to accomplish his chosen goals. His personal life is presented in relation to his sports life and includes his two brushes with the law.
This is a very well written and insightful book, a succinct and lucid treatment of Michael. It is remarkably nonjudgmental and non-sensationalized and objective in its treatment of a remarkable athlete. The descriptive text is enhanced by excellent well-captioned photographs and informative fact boxes of interesting trivia, and important statistics about the superstar and his sport. It ends with a timeline, source notes, a bibliography of books and web sites, and an index. Ogintz, Susan