• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7

Famous female athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias had one driving goal: to become the greatest athlete who ever lived. But there was more to Babe than just sports.

Babe had a meteoric rise -- to famed basketball player, Olympic medalist, and top female golfer. But her life included many controversies surrounding her upbringing, personality, marriage, and even her early death. This action-packed true story of a woman ESPN ranks as #10 of the top North American athletes of the twentieth century is a fascinating biography of a historical sports figure.  Ideal for Women's History Month, the book includes personal and professional photographs, quotes, a bibliography, and an index.

Rich Wallace's profile page

Sandra Neil Wallace's profile page

Sandra Neil Wallace had a lengthy career as a news anchor and ESPN sportscaster before writing realistic fiction and nonfiction for young readers. A pioneer in the journalism field, she was the first woman to cover the National Hockey League on network TV. Selected as a promising new voice in children's literature by The Horn Book, Wallace's titles have been named to state and national awards lists including Bank Street College's Best Children's Book of the Year, ALA-YALSA Quick Picks, and Booklist's Top 10 Sports Books for Youth. Visit sandraneilwallace.com.

Rich Wallace has written more than three dozen novels for children and teenagers, beginning with Wrestling Sturbridge, which the American Library Association selected as one of the top 100 YA books of the twentieth century. His recent forays into nonfiction include the acclaimed Babe Conquers the World and Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil Rights (Calkins Creek, 2016). Visit richwallacebooks.com.

"Babe Didrikson Zaharis is perhaps the most accomplished athlete that young people have never heard of... Her life story as drawn from contemporary news articles and interviews is fascinating and inspirational, and it is punctuated with photographs like Zaharis shooting targets with Amelia Earhart and giving Sam Snead tips on his golf swing. This is part sports journalism, part narrative nonfiction, and part proof that professional athletes can be exemplary role models for young people." — Booklist

"The life of the renowned athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias offers the combination of sports, entertainment and celebrity that will interest young readers, and the Wallaces play it well." — Kirkus Reviews

"The Wallaces pair up to tackle a great historical sports figure in this engrossing biography. . . Ample historical background is interlaced within the narrative, giving context that will help readers understand Didrikson Zaharias's lasting impact. Especially engaging are the anecdotes that illustrate the subject's faults as well as her strengths. . . extensive back matter makes this title perfect for reports, and this exemplar text should be a staple for all collections looking to diversify their biography, sports, and women's history offerings." — School Library Journal