This wonderful book was made even more wonderful by the fact that it was a gift from a student - thank you, Kai!
Written by two authors - James Patterson, known for the I Funny and Middle School, Worst Years of My Life series, and Kwami Alexander, author of one of my all-time favorite books, The Crossover, as well as Undefeated, Swing, and Booked. Two amazing, accomplished writers, writing together, can only mean one thing - an awesome book, of course!
Written both in verse and in chapter format, this book tells the story of Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammed Ali. In this novel you'll meet Cassius, and his friends, all growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, with a young Cassius already knowing that boxing was what he was meant to do, and being the greatest was what he was meant to be. If most people bragged on themselves like Clay did growing up, it would probably end badly. But for Ali, it was just...who he was! And it worked! He would go one to become a 3-time World Boxing Champion, and this book ends with this success. But it focuses mostly on Cassius as a boy and a teen, and along with Walter Dean Myers' The Greatest, one of the best books about Ali I have read. He was more than a boxer, for sure, and that is also touched upon in this book, although not in a heavy-handed or preachy way.
A really remarkable American, one you should know about. This book is a great place to start! 5 paws!
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