Hayley Wickenheiser

Hayley Wickenheiser is a talented hockey player, softball player, four-time Olympic gold medalist and a recipient of the Order of Canada, the highest honour a Canadian can hold. This narrative biography follows her from her early childhood up until 2018 using text, images and intermittent graphic novel style pages to illustrate events in her life. Many of Wickenheiser’s personal and professional accomplishments are highlighted, including her athletic success in both hockey and softball, her earning her Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology and her philanthropic work.

This book would make a great addition to a home or school library, and it would make a good subject for a book report. There is a lot of valuable information in the book and inspiring subject matter for any student. Hayley Wickenheiser is a valuable book for young girls to read because of its significant focus on female empowerment and the barriers that women can face in sports and professional athletics and its addressing some of the ways that those barriers can be broken down or overcome.

The book includes many black and white photos of Hayley Wickenheiser engaged in events that were significant in her life. It also contains four sections that are in a graphic novel style to illustrate some of the pinnacle moments in her athletic career. Hayley Wickenheiser is a very easy read, punctuated by the graphic novel sections that help bring the story to life for the reader. The variety of images would likely engage readers who don’t typically like narrative style books, or “chapter books”.