Skateboarding

Product Description Skateboarding as we know it today emerged as a popular sport in 195s’ California, but in the time since the first wheeled boards “surfed” the streets, the sport has evolved and reached sporting extremes. In this high-interest title, fans of skateboarding and other extreme sports will read the captivating backstory behind one of the most popular street sports today, with profiles of the key figures on wheels and the tricks that they invented. Safety and gear are covered, as is the development of organizations and leagues to monitor the sport and boost its popularity. From School Library Journal Gr 5-8-These overviews offer action shots and interesting facts, including a look at each sport's history. Readers will discover that surfing is tied to ancient Polynesian and Hawaiian cultures and that kiteboarding's origins date to kites in ancient China. Skydiving introduces innovator Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick, whose daring feats in the 1920s helped convince the U.S. military to use parachutes. A sidebar in Extreme Biking notes the contributions of a unit of African American Buffalo Soldiers, who in the 1890s demonstrated possible uses of military bicycles through long-distance treks, including one totaling 1,900 miles. Motorsports notes that modified race karts open this sport to wheelchair-bound participants. Straightforward prose is employed in most of the offerings, though wordy technical explanations in Kiteboarding and dense prose in Parkour make these two titles marginal purchases. VERDICT With the exceptions of Kiteboarding and Parkour, solid options.α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.