Books with author Pete DiPrimio

Drew Brees never had it easy. He had to wait until his junior year to play for his high school varsity team. College football teams from his home state, Texas, didn t want him. Some experts thought he was too short to play in the National Football League. Some coaches didn t believe he d recover from an injury. In the end, he proved them wrong to become a record-setting quarterback for Purdue University and the NFL s New Orleans Saints. He led Purdue to its first Rose Bowl appearance in 34 years. He led New Orleans to the 2010 Super Bowl victory over the favored Indianapolis Colts with a near-perfect performance. Along the way he used his Brees Dream Foundation to help the city of New Orleans rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Based on interviews by veteran sportswriter Pete DiPrimio, this action-packed sports biography tells how Drew Brees became a real-life hero for a community that badly needed one.

Carson Wentz was part of five national championships at North Dakota State University, and a winner at every level. Still, some people thought drafting him in the first round 2016 NFL Draft would be a disaster, that he wasn't nearly good enough. The Philadelphia Eagles disagreed. They made major trades to make him the second overall pick. Philadelphia coaches thought Wentz would need a year to learn before he was ready to start. Instead, he started right away, and make a big impact.

The president and Congress govern the United States, but who keeps them in check? As the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court is head of the judicial branch, the third arm in the federal government. When President Harry Truman wanted to show the U.S. steel industry who was boss in 1952, the Supreme Court showed him that no one is above the law. Credit the Court s strong stance to John Marshall, the most influential of the early chief justices. He cemented the idea that the judicial branch must be equal to the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. How did he do it and how does the Supreme Court affect our lives? Find out what the Constitution says, and what it doesn t say, about the U.S. court system.

Did astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson really kill the planet Pluto? Not exactly, although he admits he did drive the getaway car. He was a teenager when some insisted that comet was going to destroy the world. He disagreed - it would simply be a great chance to take some cool photos - and he was right. When DC Comics needed someone to find Superman's home planet, they called him. See why people turn to Tyson, one of the world's most famous scientists, for his thoughts on the universe.

Chadwick Boseman is the superhero Black Panther in the Marvel universe. Hes also Baseball Hall of Fame legend Jackie Robinson. And hes legendary musician James Brown. And hes former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Boseman is a versatile actor who makes a difference with his movies. He works hard and constantly challenges himself. He started out wanting to write and direct plays, but kept pushing to see what was next. He continues to push himself and the movie industry, one role at a time.

How did people do ordinary things in ancient Rome? Follow a soldier on the battlefield to see how the Roman army beat Hannibal and his elephants. After those wars, Rome grew from a hut village to a great city of a million people that included 400,000 slaves. Keeping all those people working, fed, and entertained wasn t easy. Discover how Romans bathed, shopped, and constructed great buildings that still stand. See what they ate, what types of houses they lived in, what their families were like, and why fathers decided whom their children married. Find out what it was like to be a gladiator and how to win chariot races. And although people often dumped their garbage into the streets, find out the great advances Romans made in building roads and aqueducts.

The president and Congress govern the United States, but who keeps them in check? As the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court is head of the judicial branch, the third arm in the federal government. When President Harry Truman wanted to show the U.S. steel industry who was boss in 1952, the Supreme Court showed him that no one is above the law. Credit the Court s strong stance to John Marshall, the most influential of the early chief justices. He cemented the idea that the judicial branch must be equal to the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. How did he do it and how does the Supreme Court affect our lives? Find out what the Constitution says, and what it doesn t say, about the U.S. court system.