Babe Conquers the World: The Legendary Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias

Reviewed by: Kristin Taylor - Biddeford High School, Biddeford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 19, 2015

Review

This is a great book for anyone interested in the history of women in sports, famous female athletes, historical photos of the Depression and Post-Depression Eras and of course the main subject of the biography, Babe Didrikson Zaharias. The authors, Rick Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace have put together a very informational and interesting biography of the World's Most Famous Female Athlete with stories of Babe's youth growing up in Beaumont, TX., the challenges she faced being a female playing men's sports and life as a renowned athlete, who not only broke records but barriers, too.

The biography is well documented with archival photos of Babe, her family, friends and husband, George Zaharias, a famous wrestler. There are copies of newspaper clippings, photos of famous people that knew Babe and the various events that she participated in. Between each chapter or rather rounds (labeled Round 1, Babe vs., Round 2, Babe vs.)there is historical information that gives more insight to the events within the rounds. A Table of Contents is available along with an index, bibliography, and source notes. There is also a timeline of Babe's life and FAQs section in the back of the book.

The layout is rather busy with the historical information place in between rounds and photos in abundance so that it sometimes makes it difficult to follow the flow of the text. Information about Babe, her accomplishments and associations are easy to locate using the index provided. The photos do compliment the text with full and descriptive captions.

The text is geared for middle school age students, but could be read by many ages just for the information on Babe, who led a very fascinating life and to look at the photos of the time span. This fits perfectly with the Depression Era discussions, women's athletics, and stories about inspiration and the perseverance that it takes to overcomes barriers.

Overall Book Score: excellent