In her new book, Leslie Garrett, former editor of Kids Toronto and author of Super Kids:Young Heroes in Action, looks at super-achieving children who have broken records.

Record Breakers profiles 11 young people ranging in age from nine to 20: six are American, two Canadian, and one each from Japan, Romania, and the U.K. Their achievements span the years from 1901 to 1999, although six are clustered in the last quarter of the century. They include: 14-year-old Subaru Takahashi, the youngest person to sail solo across the Pacific; Ryan Tripp, who holds the record for the world’s longest lawnmower ride; and Cristen Powell, youngest woman ever to win a drag race in the Top Fuel category.

Strictly speaking, not all are record breakers, and some of the feats, like Ryan Tripp’s, are a bit bizarre. One story, that of Jack Cornwall, a boy sailor who was awarded the Victoria Cross for staying at his post when mortally wounded at the battle of Jutland in 1915, seems altogether out of place.

Record Breakers will appeal to the many kids who are intrigued by the fastest, tallest, youngest, etc. Leslie Garrett has unearthed some fascinating characters, and the stories are fast-paced and focus on the determination of the participants to fulfill their dreams. However, the unremittingly upbeat tone of the stories makes it a little difficult to believe, in this age where children are subjected to such immense pressures to achieve, that all, especially the youngest, of the record breakers were simply strong-willed kids going after a personal goal. The brevity of the tales will also leave some readers, particularly at the upper end of the reading level, unsatisfied and wanting more depth and detail.