Extreme Motorsports

Gr 5-8--These overviews offer action shots and interesting facts, including a look at each sport's history. Readers will discover that surfing is tied to ancient Polynesian and Hawaiian cultures and that kiteboarding's origins date to kites in ancient China. Skydiving introduces innovator Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick, whose daring feats in the 1920s helped convince the U.S. military to use parachutes. A sidebar in Extreme Biking notes the contributions of a unit of African American Buffalo Soldiers, who in the 1890s demonstrated possible uses of military bicycles through long-distance treks, including one totaling 1,900 miles. Motorsports notes that modified race karts open this sport to wheelchair-bound participants. Straightforward prose is employed in most of the offerings, though wordy technical explanations in Kiteboarding and dense prose in Parkour make these two titles marginal purchases. VERDICT With the exceptions of Kiteboarding and Parkour, solid options.