A review by zhelana
All In: An Autobiography by Billie Jean King

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

When I was a girl, maybe 5 years old, the thing I wanted most in the world was Martina Navratilova's autograph. Lucky me, she was coming to the tennis club my parents belonged to for a tournament. But then she refused to sign my program for me. I was sitting under a tree crying when a woman I didn't know asked why I was crying. I told her and she said, "she won't refuse me. Wait here." And so I waited. When she came back, she said "I can't believe this, but you're right, she won't sign it. You're too young to remember me, but my name is Billie Jean King, and one day my autograph is going to be worth more than hers." And she signed my program. So I already knew that Billie Jean King was a remarkable lady who cares about everyone, even a crying 5 year old she'll never see again. 

What I was to learn from this book is how much more she was. I had stopped following tennis a few years later and developed interests that weren't my dad's interests, and while I knew that Billie Jean King was a big name tennis star, I didn't really know anything else about her. This book made me really appreciate who that person who came to my rescue 35 years ago was. 

This book covers her tennis career as well as civil rights discussions from Title IX to March For Our Lives, and talks about all the major changes that have happened within Billie Jean's life. She talks about being instrumental in civil rights movements for both women and LGBT folx, and then she talks about the people taking over as Millennials step up to take her place. 

They say we stand on the shoulders of giants, and Billie Jean King is one of those giants whose shoulders my generation stands on.