Stout, Glenn. Soldier Athletes (Good Sports).

Stout, Glenn.            Soldier Athletes (Good Sports).  Sandpiper see Houghton Mifflin, 2011.            99p.     $5.99

ISBN 978-0-547-41729-5       ms/hs   E-BNS            
The athletes profiled in Soldier Athletes are “good sports” and “heroes,” no matter which uniform they wear, professional sports or military.  They are good sports because they have recognized that as a team member, each person had a job to perform and a position to play to help the team win.  Members of the armed forces accept similar responsibilities.  They vow to fulfill their duty for the benefit of the greater good.
The four athletes described in Soldier Athletes have all made sacrifices for the benefit of others.  They put their playing careers aside, sometimes reluctantly, and at great personal cost -- for a larger cause.  Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox outfielder, saw his career interrupted by service as a pilot during both World War II and the Korean War, where he saw combat and survived a crash landing.  Rocky Bleier was drafted shortly after earning a spot with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a running back; he nearly lost a foot, and a promising professional football career, to a land mine during the Vietnam War.  Carlos May, a Chicago White Sox outfielder, was an emerging star who fought to remain in the major leagues after a training accident during National Guard service caused him to lose his thumb.  Pat Tillman, Arizona Cardinals defensive back, turned down a multi-million-dollar contract to join the military after September 11, 2001, and was later killed in Afghanistan.
The smooth prose reads like a sports magazine article and provides an inspirational glimpse into the lives of four extraordinary role models. This is an excellent book!                       

Subjects: 1. Athletes -- United States -- Biography -- Juvenile Literature. 2. Soldiers -- United States --Juvenile Literature. 3. United States -- Armed Forces -- Sports -- Juvenile literature. Hilary Welliver

Two Girls From Gettysburg.

Klein, Lisa. Two Girls From Gettysburg.
Bloomsbury see St. Martins, 2008, 393p, 16.99, 978-1-59990-105-3 ms/hs

When the Civil War breaks out they find themselves on opposite sides of the war. Lizzie was committed to the Union cause and saving her family’s struggling business. Rosanna return to the South to marry her daring Confederate officer. It is a heart moving story of two young girls growing up in a time of national tragedy and family struggles.
Lizzie and Rosanna are both cousins, and best friends. The two girls have forged a friendship when one cousin is sent to live with her sister in Pennsylvania. Their teenage years were typical for the time and place. However, things changed drastically when the War between the States broke out causing families to be split and hardships to be endured by everyone.
When the war breaks out Lizzie finds herself and her family committed to the ideals of the North. Rosanna on the other hand finds herself moving back to the South and falling in love with a dashing Confederate officer.
In following the struggles and encounters these two girls have to endure, the reader can better understand the physical hardships and emotional struggles families had to endure as the war progressed through the farmlands of our nation. Readers will feel the emotions of the two girls as they fight to maintain a life for themselves and the ones around them. It was a harsh time. But, the author was also able to show that it was a time where love could counterbalance tragedy. L. McNeil