A beautifully illustrated picture book biography of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali is considered by many to have been the finest athlete of the twentieth century. Here is a compelling testimony to his courage, resilience in the face of controversy, and boxing prowess by Obie Award-winning author Ntozake Shange. In her own words, Shange shows us Ali and his life, from his childhood in the segregated South, to his meteoric rise in boxing to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World. Edel Rodriguez's stunning artwork combines pastels, monoprint woodblock ink linework and spray paint on colored papers to capture Ali's power, spontaneity, and energy. A timeline and list of additional resources in the backmatter help make this a standout picturebook biography of the man known around the world as "The Greatest." The reissue of this compelling portrait will have readers cheering once again for the late American icon.

Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. won the world heavyweight championship at the age of 22, the same year he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. He would go on to become the first and only three-time (in succession) World Heavyweight Champion. Nicknamed “The Greatest,” Ali was as well known for his unique boxing style, consisting of the Ali Shuffle and the rope-a-dope, as he was for the catchphrase “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” He was an uncompromising athlete who brought beauty and grace to a very rough sport and became one of the world’s most famous cultural icons. Read Who Was Muhammad Ali? and discover “The Greatest.”

“Captures the excitement that Ali created in a generation of young African Americans, who found in the brash, young boxer a new kind of hero.” —Booklist Includes photos From his childhood in the segregated South to his final fight with Parkinson’s disease, Muhammad Ali never backed down. He was banned from boxing during his prime because he refused to fight in Vietnam. He became a symbol of the antiwar movement—and a defender of civil rights. As “The Greatest,” he was a boxer of undeniable talent and courage. He took the world by storm—only Ali could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” From a New York Times–bestselling author and winner of numerous awards—including the Michael L. Printz Award, Newbery Honors, a Caldecott Honor and five Coretta Scott King awards—this is an inspiring biography of Ali, Olympic gold medalist, former heavyweight champion, and one of the most influential people of all time. “Myers interweaves fight sequences with the boxer’s life story and the political events and issues of the day. He doesn’t shy away from reporting on the brutality of the sport and documents the toll it has taken on its many stars . . . Myers’s writing flows while describing the boxing action and the legend’s larger-than-life story.” —School Library Journal

"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky. His very first boxing coach, former police officer Joe Martin, told him, "You better learn how to fight before you start challenging people." Once considered the underdog, Cassius, later known as Muhammad Ali, would eventually win the title of heavyweight champion of the world. Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers recounts the champ's most famous fights and examines the depth and complexity of the larger-than-life legend Muhammad Ali. The bold, vibrant art of Alix Delinois reflects the beauty and power of the man who could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

When Muhammad Ali met Joe Frazier in Manila for their third fight, their rivalry had spun out of control. The Ali-Frazier matchup had become a madness, inflamed by the media and the politics of race. When the "Thrilla in Manila" was over, one man was left with a ruin of a life; the other was battered to his soul. Mark Kram covered that fight for Sports Illustrated in an award-winning article. Now his riveting book reappraises the boxers -- who they are and who they were. And in a voice as powerful as a heavyweight punch, Kram explodes the myths surrounding each fighter, particularly Ali. A controversial, no-holds-barred account, Ghosts of Manila ranks with the finest boxing books ever written.

The Manly Art is another collection of writer Keith G. Laufenberg's short stories, only this time with the defining factor being that they all involve the sport of boxing. Having been in the sport himself, beginning at age 17, when he entered Marine Corps boot camp, and ending after seven years, fought as a professional, he is afforded a closer more intimate look into the boxers lives. In "Sonny Liston's Eyes," the reader is taken into the Underworld of the sport when a writer interviews an ex-mobster-who is dying of lung cancer-and claims to have killed Sonny Liston, as well as JFK and Martin Luthur King Jr. He tells an incredible story but backs it up by saying he has absolutely verifiable evidence that he will produce for the writer. In "Frankenstein" we see why a young amateur boxer should have picked boxing over football. He has little say in the matter though as his father and uncle have trained him his entire life for football and it, along with the other stories, will keep you glued to the page.

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