10. Tony Hawk: Professional Skateboarder

Tony Hawk: Professional Skateboarder by Tony Hawk [w/ Sean Mortimer] (Harper Collins, 2002).

Genre

Autobiography

Review

Tony Hawk recounts his life, focusing on skateboarding.  Early chapters detail some of his antics as a small child: he was hyperactive (he claims due to drinking more Coke than water and eating so much sugar), chased off every nanny his parents hired, and upset his parents' friends.  But his parents remained supportive of him.  When he took up skateboarding, his father would drive him to the skate park and stand waiting until Hawk was ready to go home.  Hawk also talks about how he was bullied in school.  He was a small, thin adolescent, and when he was in school, skateboarding was not considered cool.

Opinion

The dominant theme of the book is that with hard work and persistence, you can achieve your goals.  Hawk highlights his many failures and trials.  This can be an inspiring message to youth who feel out of step with those around them, or have passions that others don't support.

Ideas

The book would be an excellent choice for encouraging reluctant readers who enjoy sports (especially those sports covered by the X-Games).  The book might also be good for encouraging students to become active.  The book might work well in contingency with a Physical Education class, or a push to get youth exercising.