Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive

by Carole Boston Weatherford (Author) Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)

Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
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.
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School Library Journal

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.

Publisher's Weekly

[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. 

Review quotes

 

Carole Boston Weatherford
Carole Boston Weatherford is a two-time NAACP Image Award winner and the author of Standing in the Need of Prayer (Crown BFYR, 2022) and The Faith of Elijah Cummings (RH Studio, Spring '22). She is also the author of Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, which won the Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Awards, a Caldecott Honor, and a Sibert Honor; the Newbery Honor book Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom; and the Caldecott Honor books Freedom in Congo Square, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Born in Baltimore, Weatherford now teaches at Fayetteville State University, in North Carolina.

Ashley Evans loves creating colorful, fun, and dynamic illustrations. Born and raised in Queens, she now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her boyfriend and their daughter. Ashley is the illustrator of Gabrielle Union's Welcome to the Party, Alphabet Rockers's You Are Not Alone, and Sing, Aretha, Sing! by Hanif Abdurraqib. When she's not creating art you can find her decorating cakes, enjoying her family, or catching a much needed nap!
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781547608980
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publication date
January 20, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007050 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Cultural Heritage
JNF018010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JNF007100 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Sports & Recreation
Library of Congress categories
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