Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive

Description

Jesse Owens grew up during the time of Jim Crow laws, but segregation never slowed him down. After setting world records for track in high school and college, he won a slot on the 1936 U.S. Olympic team. That year, the Olympics were in Berlin, then controlled by the Nazis, and Hitler was certain they would be a chance to prove to the world that Aryans were superior to all other races. But the triumph of Jesse's will helped him run through any barrier, winning four gold medals and the hearts of millions, setting two world records, and proving the Nazi dictator unmistakably wrong. The story of Jesse Owens comes alive for young readers with Carole Boston Weatherford's award-winning free verse poetry and Eric Velasquez'a stunning art.

Carole Boston Weatherford is the author of many children's books, including Newbery Honor winner Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom; Caldecott Honor winner Moses; Coretta Scott King Honor winner Becoming Billie Holiday; NAACP Image Award winner Gordon Parks; Carter G. Woodson Award winner The Sound That Jazz Makes; Caldecott Honor and Robert F. Sibert Honor winner Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer. She is also the recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature. Carole lives in North Carolina and teaches at Fayetteville State University. www.CBWeatherford.com. Eric Velasquez won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award for The Piano Man. He is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts and lives in Hartsdale, New York. www.ericvelasquez.com

Written in second-person narration, the book focuses tightly on Owens's accomplishments, giving details about each of the four races and his role in uniting people across racial lines. Rich pastel illustrations, many of them based on historical photographs, make this title stand out. * School Library Journal, starred review * [A] poetic tribute...Sometimes calling to mind old-time photographs, Velasquez's pleasingly grainy pastels easily convey the movement and speed, determination and triumph at the core of Owens's uplifting story. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *