Children's biography. I had never heard of Maya Moore, but was curious to check out this sports biography as that is often a high interest topic for this age group (late elementary to middle). This book walks through Maya's life, from her toddler size basketball hoop to keep her out of her mother's hair, all the way through college and the WNBA. Throughout the book, Maya's character is emphasized, how she excelled in school, created cheers to build team morale, and wanted to be a force for positive change in the world. Maya befriended Jonathan, a black man who had been serving jail time since his teens for a crime he didn't commit. Maya was determined to do whatever she could to help him, and eventually quit her basketball career to do so full time. She eventually succeeded, getting Jonathan a retrial in light of new evidence. The two ended up getting married.

Extensive back matter includes college and WNBA stats, Olympic stats, lists of NCAA and WNBA champions during her career, some stats on the US prison population, a glossary, and resources for families. Short chapters with one full-page black and white illustration per chapter. This inspiring biography showed how Maya became one of the best in her game, but also (as the series title implies) how she made a difference Beyond the Game. I look forward to reading more of this series.