Champion
The Story of Muhammad Ali
-
- $12.900
-
- $12.900
Publisher Description
"I am the greatest! I am the king!"
Muhammad Ali was one of the most electrifying, inspiring, and confrontational athletes of his generation. At the height of his boxing career, Ali was as despised as he was adored. Loud and aggressive as well as confident and dedicated, he was the quintessential showman, the undeniable champion of his sport, and one of the most recognizable faces in the world. He was challenged at every turn: faced with racial discrimination in his everyday life, mocked by the sports media as his career began, ridiculed for adopting a new religion, and stripped by the U.S. government of his very livelihood for refusing to go to war.
Muhammad Ali faced the obstacles in his life the way he faced his opponents in the ring, brashly and with all the force at his command. In his private life, he was also deeply spiritual, committed to standing up against social injustice, and steadfast in his beliefs. Featuring stunning illustrations and covering his entire life from childhood through his professional career to his end of life battle with Parkinson's Syndrome, this is a moving tribute to the legacy of this impressive figure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Haskins (The Story of Stevie Wonder) and Velasquez (Grandma's Records) pay tribute to Muhammad Ali in this rather adoring yet noteworthy biography, which brings to light the boxing great's many types of triumphs. The author knows how to interest kids, tracing the fighter's career to his 12th birthday, when the theft of his new bicycle made him want to find the thief and beat him up; as Haskins tells it, a policeman advised him "that he had better learn how to fight first" and offered the boy boxing lessons at his gym. The hero is not invulnerable: then known as Cassius Clay, he was so afraid of flying that he bought his own parachute and wore it during the flight to the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Haskins recaps familiar highlights of Ali's life and career, including his decision to join the Nation of Islam (and his later embrace of world Islam); the loss of his title as world heavyweight champion when he refused, on religious grounds, to fight in the Vietnam War; his remarkable 1974 win over George Foreman to regain the crown; his experience with Parkinson's; and his surprise appearance as the final torch-bearer at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. A liberal sprinkling of Ali's famous rhymes provides additional insight into his personality. Velasquez does justice to the subject with his imaginatively conceived oil paintings; sometimes these approach a photographic crispness, sometimes they suggest Ali's inner victories and struggles. Informative and inspiring. Ages 6-10.
