Having grown up in the 90's, I was vaguely aware that the "Battle of the Sexes" had been a thing. If pressed, I might have been able to tell you that Billie Jean King beat some guy in a tennis match and that it was somehow related to the existence of sports teams for girls. I had never heard the details, and that's what we get in this book: a brief overview of the details for young readers. We learn about the history of both players, that Bobby Riggs was an aging champ while Billie Jean King was a rising star. We learn about the previous challenge, the "Mother's Day Massacre", in which Riggs beat the top female player at the time. And we learn how Riggs basically shamed King into accepting his challenge, turning the entire match into something of a media circus. We learn that more people watched the Battle of the Sexes than the Superbowl that year. And we learn exactly how King beat Riggs, how she had trained for the match and basically wore him down on the court. We learn how this one match changed the entire landscape of sports. And most importantly, I think, we learn that there were no long term hard feelings between the players. If the pre-match events were spectacle and trash talk, post match was the epitome of good sportsmanship. Terrell accomplishes all of this in just 32 pages. A great choice for any young reader, sports fan or no.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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