By: Jeff Savage
Publisher: Lerner Publishing
Publication Date: March 2012
ISBN: 978-0761386667
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: February 14, 2012

Maya Moore was the kind of youngster who was busy, busy, busy. Her mother Kathryn decided that one way to keep her from running around their apartment would be to “put up a small basketball hoop on a door.” Surprisingly, Maya was hooked and was slam-dunking the hours away. When Maya was an eight-year-old, her aunt thought she might like to join a youth basketball team. It wasn’t long before Maya “gave up other sports to focus on basketball.” Coincidentally, WNBA basketball also started in 1997 and she loved to watch the games on TV.

Maya wasn’t the type of girl who would boss everyone else around just because she had a lot of talent. Perhaps because she was “the oldest of 10 cousins” she learned how to be a leader and team player. Kathryn was close to Maya and encouraged her athleticism. They moved a couple of times in order to be able to enroll Maya in the best Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). She was young, but scored points on and off the court. In fact, she had a 4.0 grade point average in her high school career. In this book you’ll be able to see her in action in high school, learn which University she wanted to play for, her “almost perfect” performances on the court, you’ll read about her awards, her family, her personality, the WBNA 2011 draft, and you’ll learn many other interesting things about marvelous Maya Moore.

In the opening chapter of this book we see Maya in action as she stuns a crowd at KeyArena in Seattle. Young fans who are unfamiliar with certain terminology will find words in the text highlighted in purple and defined in the back of the book. This book is one that talks up the game with lots of action packed game stats as it follows Maya’s amazing career with the Huskies. The book is generously illustrated with many action shots and numerous informative captions and sidebars. For example, we learn that Collin Hill High “retired her uniform number.” In the back of the book is an index, a glossary, selected career highlights (2005 to 2011), and additional recommended book and website resources to explore.

Quill says: This is an excellent overview of a phenomenal up and coming basketball player, Maya Moore.