Break Barriers (Positively for Kids Books) [Hardcover]

Eric Gagne (Author), Greg Brown (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Positively for Kids Books

In "Break Barriers" Cy Young winner Eric Gagné shares his life stories and talks about how he faced and overcame many life obstacles. Small and large, personal and professional, Eric’s barriers took courage, ingenuity, and serious dedication to work through.

A talented hockey player as well as gifted pitcher, Eric first came to the United States from Canada for college baseball not speaking a word of English. His solution of watching hours of MTV as a crash course in English typifies his creative approach to life challenges.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Reviewed with Vince Carter and Greg Brown's Vince Carter.

Gr. 3-6. These titles from the new Athletes series offer plenty of information for report writers, but are mostly geared to fans interested in getting more personal with their favorite players. Each volume, written in the first person, is filled with details of the athlete's childhood, schools attended, favorite foods, and more. Vince Carter reminisces about his days as a drum major in high school, his 2000 Olympic gold medal, and his parent's divorce when he was seven. The book about Gagne is more lighthearted. He talks about the evolution of his goatee and the reason he likes to take the mound to "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses. The series really shines in the design department. The first-rate photographs and text of different colors and sizes make the presentations feel like sports magazines rather than routine series biographies stuffed with dry statistics and team photos. Some children will probably need an adult's help to get through parts of the text, but young sports nuts won't mind a bit. Carlos Orellana
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Positively For Kids, Inc. (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963465066
• ISBN-13: 978-0963465061
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,846,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love the Book, Love the Man, October 7, 2005

By 

Suzanne Scherer (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Break Barriers (Positively for Kids Books) (Hardcover)

Monsieur Gagne really surprised and touched me with his willingness to share not only the personal successes in his life, but some of the heartrending difficulties he faced as well. I was aware the book would be simply written since it's meant for kids, but there's also a kind of earthy sweetness, and frank discussion of serious topics that I think even adult Gagne fans (like me!) will appreciate. The family photos are irresistible. This is a fascinating glimpse into the private life of this amazing man.