Ivy League Athletes: Profiles in Excellence at America's Most Competitive Schools

As stated in the prologue: "the goal [of the book] is to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the life of the student-athletes in the Ivy League." Maiorana (Buffalo Bills: The Complete and Illustrated History) first introduces the Ivy League conference, it's peculiarities and commitment to academic rigor, before delving into the lives of nine student-athletes with diverse personalities and levels of success. An overachiever who struggles with whether or not to play both soccer and lacrosse at Harvard and the local high school football legend who finds out that things don't come as easy at Yale are a bit on the predictable side. The story of a Yale field hockey goalie battling adult muscular dystrophy is simultaneously uplifting and heartbreaking. There is an account of a Dartmouth soccer star from Zimbabwe, as well as a chapter focusing on a Columbia hurdler who battles injuries and a difficult past to achieve her childhood dream. Written in a friendly manner that connects with each subject to let them tell his or her own story, Maiorana also brings a journalistic detachment in the playful, narrative prose that ties the stories together. Though Maiorana could have given a little more information about the athletes' academic lives, he captures the distinct qualities it takes to be an Ivy League student-athlete and has created a lively tribute to these special young men and women. (May)