Epic Athletes: Stephen Curry

Epic Athletes

by Dan Wetzel, Zeke Peña (Illustrator)

In Epic Stephen Curry , acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Dan Wetzel tells the inspiring, electrifying story of the NBA superstar, beginning a new series of sports biographies for young readers!

Featuring comic-style illustrations by Zeke Peña!

When you think of Stephen Curry, one word comes to greatness. From shooting three-pointers with laser precision to his clutch ability to hit buzzer-beaters time and again, he has established himself as one of the best players in pro basketball. But greatness was never a guarantee for Steph. The son of a talented NBA player, he dreamed of one day playing professionally just like his dad. Yet Steph, who was always smaller and weaker than the competition, was told over and over that he would never be talented enough to be a college star or NBA player--let alone the MVP of the entire league. Through tenacity and hard work, he proved them all wrong and went on to dismantle the record books. With the high energy of a TV commentator, and featuring dynamic comic-style illustrations, this engaging biography tells the story of an NBA All-Star and the path he took to achieve his dreams. * "Wetzel knows how to organize the facts and tell a good story. . . an unusually informative and enjoyable sports biography for young readers." — Booklist (starred review) A Junior Library Guild selection!

Genres: Biography, Sports, Nonfiction, Basketball

160 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2019

Reviews

[Kim Bahr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard work pays off!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who follows basketball will be familiar with the name "Stephen Curry" and his prowess on the court with his shots. And most everyone will recall how he led his Golden State Warriors to the NBA Championship three different times. But they may not know the story about how he wasn't expected to make it in college ball, much less in the pros. Young readers will enjoy learning about how the future superstar grew up, the influence of his parents and his faith on how he turned out, and his work ethic. While not everyone can grow up to play professional basketball, this biography offers encouragement for anyone dealing with life's challenges or whose dreams are doubted by those around them. But Curry didn't just dream; instead, he practiced and studied his shots and his game, and even made changes that would make him a better player. There are several descriptions of how he practices and how he plays the game, including crucial scenes from those NBA finals. Although the book contains plenty of statistics, they are woven into the narrative in an accessible way. Many youngsters will like the graphic novel art that introduces each chapter and then concludes the book, and makes them feel as though they are sitting courtside as Stephen Curry weaves his magic in front of them. There will be plenty of reluctant readers who will find that they enjoy this book because of its subject matter and play by play elements.

[Arielfranchakyahoo.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC and read it aloud to my 8 year old sports-loving son. Although I have 0 interest in sports, I, surprisingly found this book to be enjoyable. My son liked the book as well, so I definitely plan on purchasing Epic Athletes: Tom Brady, as my son is a huge fan. As a middle school reading specialist, I recommend this book for grades 4-8. I’ve told several of my students about it and hope to get books in this series for my classroom too.

As a non-sports fan, I definitely enjoyed this book, but I would have appreciated more readers’ aids to break up all the text. I liked how each chapter began with a graphic novel-esque illustration, but I would have liked photographs or other visual supports to enhance the text. I really liked the comic style illustrations at the end of the book and would like to see more of that included in future books in the Epic Athletes series.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an engaging biography of basketball superstar Stephen Curry. It tells of how he grew up playing ball but was always smaller than everyone else and how he had to adapt because of that. It talks about the importance of his faith, his college and pro career. It is very informative and the information seems to be accurate. However, I have no way of knowing this for sure because the author has not included any source notes or citations whatsoever to indicate where they gathered the material for this book. There are also a few graphic novel type illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. They do not add anything to the story. As an information professional, I cannot recommend this book very highly since the author does not cite their sources. Also, there are not any of the other things you would expect to find at the end, like suggestions for further reading or websites to explore, etc. It's sad, really, because there was so much potential there.

[Deanna Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biography

I read this in one afternoon and enjoyed getting to know Stephen Curry and his life. I am a huge basketball fan and have watched many Golden State Warriors' games since Steve Kerr (yeah UofA) became their coach.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think if I didn't already know so much about Steph Curry, I would have given this a higher rating. Really good accessible bio. Made me like Curry even more.

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my 9 year old. He liked the play-by-play moments and stats. I enjoyed it as well. I wish there would have been more illustrations.

[Aaron White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book to read, but it's always tough to do a book while the player is still playing. The illustrations were great and kept my kids attention.

[Alyss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is super amazing! This is the first time I learn about Stephen Curry’s story. So detailed, inspiring, and passionate!

[Camdon DeLacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Curry is one of the best shooters of all time, and that's because he shoots so many shots; so he knows how hard to shoot them when he does mid game.

[Jacob Alvarado]

Very good