In an era when women's sports were virtually nonexistent, Rozanne Knudson blazed new trails by participating in male- dominated sports like football and basketball. She turned her then-considered roguish interests into many young adult books about strong female athletes. The classic novels Zanballer and Zanbanger feature a semi-autobiographical character with the author's own nickname, Zan. Knudson has done extensive research in many sports that has helped her write authoritatively on these subjects. In addition to her novels, Knudson has written biographies on Martina Navratilova and marathoner Julie Brown and has published two books of sports poems.

The young Knudson spent most of her childhood in Washington, D.C. She admits that her early memories may have been greatly influenced by the extensive baby books that were maintained by her mother. Her childhood was a very happy one; her mother recalled that for the first twelve weeks of her...