Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-7. Except for the subject there's not much to recommend the Pro Wrestling Legends series, which treats wrestling as a legitimate, unscripted sport. But let's face it, wrestling is hugely popular. The design is boring, a number of the pictures are blurry, and the writing style, particularly in Greatest Wars, leaves much to be desired: "We realize that we're living in a special time, a dangerous time, a remarkable time when just about anything can happen." In endless detail (that fans will probably appreciate), Ross lists rivalries and feuds ("Harlem Heat vs. the Nasty Boys") and explains the fights' origins, memorable moments, and resolutions. Women is a better offering, at least in terms of text. Alexander begins by introducing several of the most popular women in wrestling, and then goes into a history of women's roles inside and outside the ring. There are paragraphs of information about many women wrestlers going back to the 1950s. Despite the series' flaws, kids who don't read anything else may read these books. A bibliography (no Web sites) is appended. See Series Roundup for more titles. --Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
These volumes seldom separate factual information about wrestlers and wrestling from the over-the-top personas that the participants adopt and the fictional hijinks that occur in the ring. Written in colloquial prose, the biographical volumes are especially weak because they lack essential personal background about their subjects. Sweaty action photographs accompany the texts. Time lines are included. Bib., ind. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
