Part of a series of business and entrepreneurial books for middle school students, From an Idea to Nike is part biography of majority owner Phil Knight and part timeline of how Nike was launched.  Knight, who grew up in Oregon, was a great track athlete. After graduating college, Knight knew that he wanted to create a running shoe company but had neither the capitol or the credentials.  Starting first as Blue Ribbon Sports and working with a Japanese shoe company (which would later become ASICS), Knight began selling the light-weight and comfortable shoes at track meets and road races.  Runners loved this new style. Knight approached his former college track coach Bill Bowerman to buy into the business and Bowerman soon started creating shoe concepts for manufacturing. After several years, Knight and the Japanese manufacturer parted ways.  Knight knew it was the right time to create a new company and Nike was born. Right from the beginning, Knight and Bowerman knew that finding athletes to endorse would be their approach to marketing and it proved to be a gold mine of an idea. Steve “Pre” Fontaine, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are only a small portion of famous athletes who were paid by Nike to wear their apparel, furthering the brand’s famous Swoosh and status.  This slim nonfiction book is deceptively informative, well-written and extremely interesting. “Fun Facts” are interspersed throughout the chapters and business concepts and terminology are carefully and appropriately explained for its reading audience. With other titles in the series including Disney, Google and Lego, this is a perfect addition for collections looking to update their inventors and inventions sections.

Reviewed by Suzanne Dix, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook