Athlete Is Agender: True Stories of LGBTQ+ People in Sports

Gr 4-6–Locke and Melleby deliver a high interest, meaningful, and hopeful title about athletes and sports. The book features a multitude of stories and essays from athletes, as well as athlete biographies and supporting youth sports–related information by the editors. The stories are from a broad variety of athletes with diverse identities, pronouns, abilities, and backgrounds at different levels in their sport from recreational to professional. The variety of sports range from staples like basketball and soccer to longboarding, sled dog mushing, horseback riding, rugby, and water fitness. The format includes engaging photos from the athletes and broken-out text with bold and colorful important quotes as well as illustrations. Most poignant is the messaging about sports bringing joy and inner strength to all athletes and that sports are for everyone, no matter what their identity. One of the introductory pieces discusses Title IX and due to shifting policies, the book cover includes a helpful QR code to lead readers to the most current and accurate information. The title may be confusing to the intended audience, but the bright, colorful, and bold cover design will likely be the bigger draw.