Novelist Plus

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The Olympians

Contributed By: Burton, Kimberly

These books showcase Olympic achievements -- the victories, losses, issues, athletes, and stories to remember.

Brazil's dance with the devil: the World Cup, the Olympics, and the fight for democracy (Jun 2014) By: Zirin, Dave Looks at the widespread protests in Brazil as they struggle to prepare for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, pointing out the political, social, and economic costs for the nation that come with hosting the two mega-events. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

Chasing water: elegy of an olympian (Apr 2016) By: Ervin, Anthony Ervin won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic games at the age of nineteen. He is an athlete branded with a slew of titles including being the first United States Olympic swimmer of African American descent, along with Jewish heritage, who also grew up with Tourette's syndrome. He shocked the sporting world by retiring soon after claiming two world titles following the 2000 Olympics. But Ervin resurfaced in 2012 to not only make the US Olympic team twelve years after his first appearance, but to continue his career by swimming faster than ever before, and faster than anyone else. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

Dream team: how Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the greatest team of all time conquered the world and changed the game of basketball forever (Jul 2012) By: McCallum, Jack, 1949- Documents the story of the Olympic squad that won the gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games, assessing the achievements and legacy of some of the NBA's greatest players, including Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Charles Barkley. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

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Fast girl: a life spent running from madness (Sep 2015) By: Favor Hamilton, Suzy A former Olympic athlete and high-end escort reveals her struggles with manic depression, exploring how mental illness both drove her competitively and painfully challenged her personal life. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

For the glory: Eric Liddell's journey from Olympic champion to modern martyr (May 2016) By: Hamilton, Duncan An account of the lesser-known post-Olympics life of the gold medalist made famous in the film, "Chariots of Fire", explores how he dedicated his life to missionary work in China and spent his final years interned at a Japanese work camp where he practiced his faith and organized games for fellow prisoners. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

Leap of faith: my journey to become the fastest American on two blades (Jun 2016) By: Leeper, Blake, 1989- "The inspirational true story of Blake Leeper—born without legs and told by doctors he would never walk—and his incredible journey to becoming the first disabled American athlete poised to compete on the US Olympic Team."--Provided by the publisher. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

Rome 1960: the Olympics that changed the world (Jul 2008) By: Maraniss, David Author Maraniss weaves sports, politics, and history into a tour de force about the 1960 Olympics. Along with the unforgettable characters and dramatic contests, there was a deeper meaning to those days at the dawn of the sixties. Change was everywhere. Old-boy notions of Olympic amateurism were crumbling. Rome saw the first doping scandal, the first commercially televised Summer Games, the first athlete paid for wearing a certain brand. In the heat of the Cold War, the city teemed with spies and rumors of defections, and every move was judged for propaganda value. While East and West Germans competed as a unified team, less than a year before the Berlin Wall, there was a dispute over the two Chinas. Fourteen nations were being born in sub-Saharan Africa. There was increasing pressure to provide equal rights for blacks and women. The world as we know it was coming into view.--From publisher description. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction ______

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Speed kings: the 1932 Winter Olympics and the fastest men in the world (Oct 2015) By: Bull, Andy Traces the efforts of four American athletes from disparate backgrounds to win the gold medal for bobsledding during the 1932 Olympics, profiling how the American public, deep in the grip of the Great Depression, rallied around their achievements. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

The boys of winter: the untold story of a coach, a dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team (Jan 2005) By: Coffey, Wayne R. Looks back at one of the greatest moments of twentieth-century sports history, the victory of the U.S. hockey team over the Soviet Union, assessing the meaning of the triumph and the paths of the players and coaches on both sides since 1980. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

The domino diaries: my decade boxing with Olympic champions and chasing Hemingway's ghost in the last days of Castro's Cuba (Jun 2015) By: Butler, Brin-Jonathan Brin-Jonathan Butler's story of his time chasing the American dream through Cuba Whether he's hustling his way into Mike Tyson's mansion for an interview, betting his life savings on a boxing match, becoming romantically entangled with one of Fidel Castro's granddaughters, or simply manufacturing press credentials to go where he wants-Brin-Jonathan Butler has always been the "act first, ask permission later" kind of journalist. This book is the culmination of Butler's decade spent in the trenches of Havana, trying to understand a culture perplexing to Westerners: one whose elite athletes regularly forgo multimillion-dollar opportunities to stay in Cuba and box for their country, while living in penury. Butler's fascination with this distinctly Cuban idealism sets him off on a remarkable journey, training with, befriending, and interviewing the champion boxers that Cuba seems to produce more than any other country. In the process, though, Butler gets to know the landscape of the exhilaratingly warm Cuban culture-and starts to question where he feels most at home. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

The end of the perfect ten: the making and breaking of gymnastics' top score --from Nadia to now (Jul 2016), Forthcoming By: Meyers, Dvora Describes the far-reaching ramifications of the judging controversies at the 2004 Olympics, which prompted a change in the international elite gymnastics scoring system and made scoring a perfect 10 a thing of the past. ______

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Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

The games: a global history of the Olympics (Jul 2016), Forthcoming By: Goldblatt, David The definitive sports and social history of the modern Olympic Games—by one of the most celebrated sportswriters of our time. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

The three-year swim club: the untold story of Maui's Sugar Ditch Kids and their quest for Olympic glory (Oct 2015) By: Checkoway, Julie Offers an inspiring story of how a group of poor Japanese-American kids from Hawaii were transformed into Olympic-level swimming champions. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

Today we die a little!: the inimitable Emil Zatopek, the greatest Olympic runner of all time (May 2016) By: Askwith, Richard Based on interviews with people across the world who knew him—as well as his widow, fellow Olympian Dana Zatopkova—journalist Richard Askwith breathes new life into Czech Olympic running champion Emil Zatopek and uncovers a glorious age of athletics and an epoch-defining time in world history. Popularity: Adult Nonfiction

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