Chamique Holdsclaw has been called the "Michael Jordan of women's basketball." The young WNBA star--she plays for the Washington Mystics--has a real rags-to-riches life story. She grew up in a housing project in Astoria, Queens. Her parents were alcoholics, and Chamique went to live with her grandmother at a young age.

Her autobiography catalogues her struggles to excel in parochial school, the first time she played ball with the boys in Queens, her determination to finish college. Chamique's story is inspirational--not just because it's a classic version of the Horatio Alger story haunting every kid with no money and a talent for hoops. Chamique herself comes across as a genuinely talented, hard-working yet modest young woman. As one of her friends from college says, "she's a good girl who went to a Catholic school and had this great support system from her grandmother and her family."

The reader can see that strength of character on every page of "Chamique."