These new additions to the Big Time series feature up-to-the-minute, star-studded sports and pop-culture biographies. Each book begins on a lively, exciting note with an action scene of a game or performance. Lights flash, or someone blocks a whizzing ball. The text generally follows the same sequence: childhood, early professional experience, fame and success, personal life, plans for the future, and quotations. Alex Morgan tracks its subject's career from high school through college, professional, and Olympic soccer achievements. These jazzy books' nonfiction approach preserves their subjects' myth and glamor and will appeal to sophisticated children who are interested in celebrities.

MURRAY, Laura K. Andrew Luck . ISBN 9781608186686 ; ISBN 9781566607049 . MURRAY, Laura K. Ariana Grande . ISBN 9781608186693 ; ISBN 9781566607056 . MURRAY, Laura K. Cristiano Ronaldo . ISBN 9781608186709 ; ISBN 9781566607063 . MURRAY, Laura K. Iggy Azalea . ISBN 9781608186716 ; ISBN 9781566607070 . MURRAY, Laura K. Stephen Curry . ISBN 9781608186723 ; ISBN 9781566607087 . ea vol: 24p. (The Big Time). further reading. glossary. index. photos. websites. Creative Education . Sept. 2016. lib. ed. $19.95. ebk. $28.50. Gr 1-3 Each of these brief biographies of celebrities opens with a fictionalized drama. For example, in Azalea , "She starts speaking so fast! Some of her words rhyme. The crowd claps and cheers!" Details are then offered about each subject's childhood and family circumstances, as well as career progression. All of the titles, particularly Grande , are richly illustrated with recent media photos. The books close with themed quotations, none of which are cited or contextualized. Recommendations for further reading are spotty. The "Read More" sections of Morgan and Ronaldo each refer to the publisher's biography of the other, though neither book mentions the other player. Indexes are very sparse.