Every game has them, and rules are mostly
helpful. They make it clear how to play and who can win –
although sometimes, they don’t make any sense. Sometimes,
they’re downright dumb and in Game Changers by Lesa
Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome, those rules
are made to be grand-slammed.
Serena and Venus Williams were about a
year-and-a-half apart in age but were "as close as two
sisters could be." Wherever you’d find Serena, you’d find
Venus. Where Venus was, there was Serena – especially on the
tennis court.
Before the sun was up most days, the
Williams girls were awake and standing on the court in their
Compton neighborhood, getting rid of trash and broken glass
so they could practice their serves and backhands. People
laughed at their father, Richard, because he believed that
his youngest daughters could get themselves out of Compton,
but he held fast to the dream.
When most kids were outside playing, Venus
and Serena would practice. When they weren’t practicing with
"secondhand" equipment, they ran laps and took ballet
lessons. They also had to learn to drop to the ground
quickly because of gangs and gun violence in their
neighborhood.
But that all paid off when, by age 10, Venus
won "every single one of her sixty-three junior tournaments"
and Serena was "not far behind." At 14, Venus played
professionally. A year later, Serena did the same thing.
Fans were astounded at the girls’ talents
but some people were upset when they saw two black girls in
what had been "a nearly all-white sport." Venus and Serena’s
father had anticipated that, though: years before, he hired
kids from the neighborhood to yell every nasty thing they
could think of and his daughters learned to ignore them.
In 1998, the Williams sisters faced one
another for the first time, but it wouldn’t be the last. It
didn’t matter then that Venus won – Serena’s time would come
and when it was her turn to beat her sister, Venus cheered
as loud as everyone else, just as she still does today.
For a child – especially one who’s
laser-focused on a sport or a dream there are few books out
there that are as inspirational as Game Changers.
Just be aware of the age of said child before you give this
book.
