The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
CCBC Review:
Muhammad Ali's career as a boxer is the focus of this captivating biography that incorporates lively accounts of some of the key fights in his career. But in the course of describing the years when Ali was rising to the top of the boxing world and defending or trying to reclaim his status as heavyweight champion, it also reveals a man worthy of admiration for so much more than his feats in the ring. Gaining recognition as boxer during the turbulent times of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, Ali was a public figure who refused to ignore the politics of the times in which he lived. He refused to compromise his personal convictions, even when his actions, such as filing as a conscientious objector and later refusing induction into the U.S. army, jeopardized his career. When Ali joined the Nation of Islam, many thought he was a pawn of its leaders, but Myers sees a man who was living by his beliefs–no one's pawn but a deeply religious individual and a fierce believer in Black independence and pride. Myers's own admiration for Ali clearly influences this biography but does not obstruct or obscure it; rather, it shines a light on the character behind all the bluster and boasting for which Ali was also known. Myers does not wholly ignore Ali's personal life–he makes clear there is much that could be written about, but he also provides an inspiring commentary on his reasons for focusing on the public man. "In his private life, [Muhammad] Ali is revealed to be a man of human faults and human weaknesses ... I appreciate the ‘normal' Muhammad Ali, but I choose to write about The Greatest....the man who represented so many views, who personified the needs of so many Americans...I look upon him as an American, as a fighter, as a seeker of justice, as someone willing to stand up against the odds, no matter how daunting those odds, no matter how big his foe." ©2001 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 11 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Formats:
Biography, Autobiography and Memoir
Substantial Narrative Non-Fiction
Subjects:
Activism and Resistance
Affirmation
African Americans
Biography
Civil Rights
Muslim People
Sports
Vietnam War
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Muslim
Publisher:
Scholastic
Publish Year: 2001
Pages: 172
ISBN: 0590543423
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 920 Ali