Andrew Maraniss is the author of the new children's Beyond the Game biography series, which began with books about basketball stars LeBron James and Maya Moore. Maraniss's other books include Inaugural Ballers. He is director of special projects at the Vanderbilt University Athletic Department, and he lives in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Q: Why did you decide to focus on basketball stars LeBron James and Maya Moore in your new books?
A: The Beyond the Game series focuses on athletes who have done important work outside of sports to help other people. The books on Moore and James are the first two books in a continuing series, and I wanted to get the series off on a strong foot by writing about athletes who are well known and clearly illustrate the concept.
Maya Moore was arguably the best player in women’s basketball and gave up her professional career to help free an innocent man from prison. LeBron famously refused to “shut up and dribble” and has used his platform to speak out on issues ranging from voter suppression to gun violence to Black Lives Matter.
The goal is for the series to continue to be equally divided between male and female subjects, to feature current athletes rather than retired or deceased heroes, and to highlight a diverse range of subjects.
Q: How did you research the books, and what did you learn about these athletes that especially surprised you?
A: Since these books are meant for first- to third-graders, there wasn’t quite as much research involved as there has been for my longer books for older readers. For example, I spent four years doing the research for my first book, Strong Inside.
With these first two books in the Beyond the Game series, I read books and articles about the subjects, watched documentaries and other video clips, and talked to people who know LeBron and Maya.
In the case of LeBron, I’ve always been surprised that he has to deal with so many haters. He’s lived his life in public since he was a teenager and consistently makes good decisions. He’s a good teammate, a winner, community minded. I don’t get the hate, other than people like to bring down the same people they’ve built up.
With Maya, like a lot of people, I was surprised when she married Jonathan Irons, the man she was working to free from prison. I was in the middle of writing the book when they made the announcement.
Q: What do you think DeAndra Hodge’s illustrations add to the books?
A: This was my first time writing an illustrated biography, and I am so pleased to partner with a talented illustrator like DeAndra Hodge on this series.
When writing for kids who are just beginning to read chapter books on their own, the illustrations are incredibly important. They help to make the book accessible to a wider range of young readers and they help tell the story in a fun way. The illustrations add depth and context not only to the athletic lives of the subjects, but also their social justice work.
It’s been a lot of fun for me to visit classrooms and share DeAndra’s illustrations while I’m reading the books to students.
Q: What do you hope kids take away from learning about the lives of these athletes?
A: There are several things I hope they take away from these books.
At one basic level, I just hope they enjoy reading them and find the stories and illustrations interesting and entertaining. It is so important to get kids hooked on reading at an early age.
In terms of the social messages, I hope these books spark family conversations about the serious social issues at the heart of the books – racism, voter suppression, police violence, two systems of justice, the political choice to allow kids to grow up in poverty, and mass incarceration, among others.
I hope that kids will see there are different reasons to admire athletes. Sometimes we admire them purely for their athletic achievements, and that’s fine. But the transcendent athletes represent something more, and that’s what this series is all about.
Finally, I hope these books help kids develop a sense of empathy and a desire to use their own voice to speak up for justice. Kids have a strong sense of what is right and wrong and it’s important for them to see examples of adults who are committed to justice when so many people in our society seem to be celebrated and rewarded for taking the exact opposite positions.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m continuing the Beyond the Game series with illustrated biographies of Pat Tillman, the NFL star who enlisted in the army after Sept. 11 and was tragically killed by his own men (coming Oct. 1, 2024) and of Indigenous runner Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Whetstone, who raises awareness of the issue of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (coming in 2025).
I’ve also begun writing my first fiction series for Scholastic about a group of diverse neighborhood kids who learn lessons by trying out different sports.
And I’m writing a book for teens and adults on the first Special Olympics, which took place in 1968 in Chicago.
This is on top of my job as director of special projects at the Vanderbilt University Athletic Department, where I manage the Sports & Society Initiative. I’m staying busy and I enjoy all of it.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I have testified on behalf of teachers and school librarians at the Tennessee legislature as they have been attacked by Moms for Liberty and conservative legislators.
Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to participate in the Children’s Defense Fund’s Read Aloud program commemorating the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer 1964. The focus was on banned books and protecting the freedom to read and learn. I know many other authors and illustrators who are active on these issues all over the country.
I would encourage your readers to speak up in their communities and to support authors writing the kinds of truthful, important books that are under fire. That could mean buying books for schools or community programs, inviting authors to speak, speaking up at school board meetings, voting for the right candidates, running for office.
Now’s not the time to just sit back and take comfort in believing the right things. The subjects of these books may have large platforms due to their position as athletes, but the point of the books is to inspire everybody to act in their own way.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Andrew Maraniss.
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