If Lin Can: How Jeremy Lin Inspired Asian Americans to Shoot for the Stars

(Hardback)

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This biography of basketball superstar Jeremy Lin is an anthem of Asian American pride that speaks to any child who feels underestimated or misunderstood. If Lin can, you can! Have you ever been told that you CAN'T Growing up in the Bay Area, Jeremy Lin heard that over and over again. People made fun of his size and his race and wouldn't give him a chance. But Jeremy persevered until he became the first Taiwanese American to play in the NBA. And when his big moment came, he seized it! Jeremy's meteoric rise, dubbed "Linsanity," inspired the world and a whole generation of young Asian Americans. As author Richard Ho puts it, "Jeremy's struggles were our struggles, so his triumphs were our triumphs. He made us believe that if he could succeed, so could we."

Reviews

Composed mostly of questions, this picture-book biography traces Jeremy Lin's uphill battle as the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. Moving from his youth to his breakout 2012 game with the New York Knicks, the book shows how faith, diligence, and tenacity helped Lin weather taunts, setbacks, privation, and an agonizing NBA draft wait. The digital illustrations employ spot art to depict Lin's off-court life, while full bleeds portray on-court action and the media craze ("linsanity") surrounding his meteoric rise from obscurity. Ho prompts children to reflect on their own experiences contending with naysayers, find role models who look like them, embrace who they are, and defy stereotypes. Back matter fleshes out Lin's life story and includes an author's note and bibliography.

The Horn Book

Author Bio

As a child, Richard Ho harbored perfectly reasonable career aspirations- professional basketball player, astrophysicist, and Jedi master. When he "grew up," he worked as a magazine journalist, a scriptwriter, an editor, and an author. His highly acclaimed picture books include Red Rover, The Lost Package, and Year of the Cat. Ph ng Nguyan Quang and Hu_x1EF3_nh Kim Lian are book creators who live and work together in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. They have illustrated several children's books, including My First Day (which they also wrote), Hundred Years of Happiness, and The Floating Field- How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field. www.kaaillustration.com