Joe Layden Books in Order

This illustrated account follows the Arkansas Razorbacks’ 1994 national championship basketball season. It records the team’s achievement and the campaign that brought Arkansas its first NCAA men’s basketball title, presenting the season as a commemorative sports history.

Layden and Coffey examine Tonya Harding's life, sporting ambitions, and public image amid the scandal surrounding Nancy Kerrigan's attack. Her childhood, relationships, and competitive career provide context for questions about responsibility and the controversy that transformed figure skating.

This illustrated biography introduces Steve Young through his beginnings and selected highlights from his sporting career. Photographs accompany the account, giving readers a concise look at the athlete's background and achievements.

This account examines the baseball strike of 1994 and 1995 in the context of the sport's history. Earlier labor disputes and questions about baseball's future help explain the conflict that interrupted the national pastime.

An introduction to the United States men's and women's basketball teams competing at the 1996 Olympics. Photographs, statistics, and trivia provide a portrait of the players representing the country at the Games.

Football player Charles Haley reflects on his NFL life with Layden, discussing the teams, teammates, and experiences behind his public reputation. His account offers a player's perspective on professional football and a career associated with repeated Super Bowl success.

This gaming guide brings explanations of games of chance and skill into a single illustrated reference. Organized for accessible use, it aims to help readers understand unfamiliar games and approach the casino floor with greater knowledge.

A portrait of the Los Angeles Lakers combines team history, player profiles, and statistics. Alongside attention to Shaquille O'Neal, it introduces figures from the franchise's past and present to readers exploring the team's identity.

This illustrated introduction revisits NBA slam-dunk champions and the competition that showcases their skills. Alongside profiles of winners, it explains the contest's rules and looks back at the origins of dunking in basketball.

Official NBA photographs offer a view of professional players away from televised competition. Travel, meals, practices, family moments, and other daily activities reveal the routines behind the public excitement of a basketball game.

Profiles and brief facts introduce nine emerging NBA players, including Grant Hill, Vin Baker, Juwan Howard, and Damon Stoudamire. The collection presents a snapshot of young basketball talent as these athletes build their professional careers.

A collection of athlete profiles introduces prominent women across different sports, including Bonnie Blair, Gail Devers, Chris Evert, and Billie Jean King. The book brings their individual careers together in a broad survey of female sporting achievement.

Eight NBA players, including Reggie Miller and Jayson Williams, describe paths shaped by major obstacles. Photographs accompany accessible profiles focused on the difficulties they overcame while pursuing successful careers in professional basketball.

Paired accounts follow Mark McGwire of the Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Cubs as they pursue Roger Maris's single-season home-run record. The book presents their parallel efforts to surpass the mark set in 1961.

This early biography follows Kobe Bryant from his childhood as an NBA player’s son through his decision to turn professional at seventeen. His rookie season, All-Star appearance, and second year with the Lakers trace the beginning of his basketball career.

Illustrated with paintings, engravings, photographs, and posters, this companion to the PBS special traces magic’s history and development. Accounts of earlier traditions sit alongside modern performers who preserve and adapt classic illusions for stage and television audiences.

Photographs and player profiles introduce young readers to the WNBA and the women building its early identity. The scrapbook combines an overview of the league with images of its players in action, bringing professional women’s basketball into focus.

Action photographs and accessible text introduce young readers to leading NBA players, including Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and Stephon Marbury. The profiles offer a snapshot of the league’s popular stars during the late 1990s.

Brief illustrated profiles introduce a new generation of NBA players, including Paul Pierce, Mike Bibby, Vince Carter, and Larry Hughes. The book presents their emerging professional careers as basketball enters a new millennium.

This illustrated introduction traces women’s soccer as an Olympic sport and profiles players expected to represent the United States in 2000. The team’s prospects are placed within the developing history of women’s participation in international competition.

An introduction to Olympic women’s gymnastics profiles American contenders for the 2000 Games alongside notable athletes from earlier competitions. The account also revisits the United States team’s experience in 1996, connecting current hopes with the sport’s recent past.

Dwayne Johnson recounts growing up in a wrestling family, playing football, and entering professional wrestling. His memoir follows the development of his Rock persona and offers a backstage view of the competitive business behind the performances.

This illustrated guide introduces professional snowboarders associated with Burton, including Terje Haakonsen and Ross Powers. Rider profiles, career highlights, and action photographs show young readers the athletes behind the sport and the achievements that established their reputations.

Photographs, facts, and short profiles introduce athletes known for daring performances in extreme sports. Designed as an accessible sports survey, the book focuses on the personalities behind the action and the risks associated with their competitive pursuits.

An account of WrestleMania’s first sixteen years combines photographs with backstage stories from wrestling executive Basil DeVito. It traces memorable matches, celebrity appearances, and the planning behind the spectacle, showing how the annual event developed within professional wrestling.

Special education teacher Mike Kersjes sets out to take his students to a space camp designed for gifted pupils. Despite resistance from administrators, he prepares the class for months, challenging assumptions about disability, teamwork, and who deserves an ambitious opportunity.

This authorized scrapbook introduces speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno through an account of his life and sporting career. Photographs from his family’s collection accompany the portrait of an athlete whose Olympic success brought him widespread public attention.

Amye Leong draws on her experience with rheumatoid arthritis to discuss living with a chronic illness at home and at work. Personal reflections and practical strategies explore ways to regain confidence, manage limitations, and build a more independent life.

Profiles of daredevil athletes introduce readers to skateboarding, BMX, wakeboarding, snowboarding, surfing, and inline skating. Figures including Kelly Slater, Travis Pastrana, and Fabiola Da Silva illustrate the competitors and personalities behind a range of extreme sports.

Chuck Zito recounts his path from New York street fights to leadership in the Hells Angels, celebrity bodyguard work, and acting. His memoir examines the loyalties and confrontations that shaped him, including the imprisonment that interrupted his unusual career.

Photographs, facts, and profiles introduce leading race-car drivers and their competitive world. This accessible survey for young readers focuses on the personalities and achievements of drivers whose performances make motor racing a high-speed spectator sport.

Grateful Dead roadie Steve Parish recalls decades spent touring with the band and working closely with Jerry Garcia. His account follows the friendships, excesses, practical demands, and personal losses behind a life devoted to keeping the music on the road.

Text and photographs take young readers into the National Football League, from training camp and locker rooms to the field. The book also introduces football history, equipment and the people whose work supports the game.

Peter Salgo presents an approach to preventing heart disease that combines risk assessment, lifestyle changes, and proposed medication strategies. The book explains his views on cholesterol and infection while arguing for intervention before symptoms or a heart attack occur.

Sean Astin recounts his Hollywood upbringing and the career that led to playing Samwise Gamgee. His memories of filming The Lord of the Rings reveal the demanding production, relationships, and professional uncertainty behind a role that transformed his life.

Joe Layden profiles leading athletes in summer extreme sports, from surfing to motocross. Biographical details, quotations, facts, and trivia introduce competitors such as Lisa Anderson and Carey Hart, placing their accomplishments within the expanding popularity of televised competitions.

This illustrated guide explains the events leading to the NFL’s annual championship and revisits highlights from its first thirty-eight games. Profiles of standout players connect memorable performances with the history and spectacle of the Super Bowl.

This illustrated introduction profiles fifteen NFL players from the 2006 season, including Shaun Alexander, Larry Fitzgerald and Jason Taylor. Brief accounts of their careers give young readers a picture of the athletes behind the game.

This illustrated football book introduces the NFL players relied upon to score crucial points. Written for young fans, it focuses on the athletes behind major scoring moments and the excitement of a game decided in its final seconds.

Retired general Joseph Franklin draws on his years as a West Point cadet, instructor, and commandant to explain ten leadership principles. Personal examples show how qualities such as courage, adaptability, compassion, and perseverance can guide decisions beyond military life.

Former commander Nathan Sassaman recounts leading American troops in Iraq and the decision that ended his military career. His account examines combat, reconstruction, aggressive tactics, and his role in concealing an incident involving Iraqi detainees.

Dave Mustaine recalls his departure from Metallica and the creation of Megadeth, tracing the setbacks and addictions that accompanied his musical ambitions. His account offers a personal view of thrash metal’s rise and the costs of life inside it.

KISS guitarist Ace Frehley recounts his Bronx childhood, the band’s formation, and his transformation into the Spaceman. Stories of fame, conflict, and a solo career accompany his account of addiction, self-destruction, and the effort to rebuild his life.

Boxer Micky Ward recounts the life beyond the story dramatized in The Fighter. From his childhood in Lowell to demanding bouts and troubled family relationships, he examines the setbacks, loyalties, and personal struggles that shaped his persistence.

Salvatore Giunta recounts joining the Army and serving in Afghanistan, where an ambush tested his commitment to fellow soldiers. His account follows the actions that earned the Medal of Honor and reflects on duty, survival, and the burden of recognition.

Freestyle motocross pioneer Larry Linkogle recounts his rise from teenage racing prodigy to cofounder of Metal Mulisha. A near-fatal accident leads into addiction and criminal activity before he begins confronting the choices threatening his career and relationships.

Trainer Tim Snyder spends his savings on an unwanted thoroughbred with physical impairments. As he helps the filly become a racehorse, reminders of his late wife give their partnership unexpected meaning and offer him another chance at purpose.

Cary Elwes revisits the making of The Princess Bride through his memories and interviews with fellow cast members and filmmakers. Behind-the-scenes anecdotes reveal the friendships, performances, and practical challenges involved in creating the enduring fantasy comedy.

After surviving fierce combat in Afghanistan, Daniel Rodriguez returns home carrying trauma and a promise to a fallen friend. His determination to play college football drives a demanding effort to rebuild his life and earn a place at Clemson.

Former Van Halen manager Noel Monk recounts the band’s rise from touring act to rock phenomenon. His backstage account follows the performances, business decisions, excesses, and personal conflicts that shaped their success and ultimately fractured the original lineup.

Former NBA star Vin Baker recounts how addiction undermined his career, health, and fortune. Rebuilding through faith, work, and responsibility, he examines the transition from professional basketball’s privileges to finding stability and purpose in a very different life.

Blondy Baruti recounts fleeing violence in the Congo with his family and enduring a prolonged search for safety. His journey continues through hopes of a basketball career, unexpected setbacks, and the opportunities that eventually brought him to Hollywood.

Navy SEAL Will Chesney recounts his partnership with Cairo, the military dog who joined the bin Laden raid. Their bond extends beyond dangerous deployments as injury and trauma change Chesney’s life and make the dog essential to his recovery.

Dave Mustaine recounts confronting throat cancer while recording a Megadeth album. Treatment and uncertainty force him to reconsider his work, faith, and family relationships, revealing how a musician known for defiance learned to accept help and vulnerability.

Joe Layden reconstructs Buster Douglas’s 1990 upset of Mike Tyson and examines how the fight changed both men. Interviews with the boxers and those around them illuminate their preparation, personal ambitions, setbacks, and lives beyond the Tokyo ring.