Especially for beginning readers, this biography series has large, colorful illustrations and easy-to-read texts, focusing on the childhood years of famous men and women.

Get to know three-time Grand Slam singles winner Arthur Ashe in this middle grade nonfiction biography of his early years! As a kid, Arthur Ashe was so small his father said he wasn’t allowed to play football, so he played tennis instead. He went on to become a professional tennis player—the only black man to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. After contracting HIV from a blood transfusion, Arthur fought to educate people about HIV and AIDS and to fund treatment for the disease until his death in 1993. This book is laced with numerous illustrations, and the back of the book includes a timeline, questions, activities, and a glossary, making it the perfect addition to a classroom or home school setting. Perfect for emerging readers, the Childhood of Famous Americans series illustrates the incredible true stories of great Americans.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK A “thoroughly captivating biography” (The San Francisco Chronicle) of American icon Arthur Ashe—the Jackie Robinson of men’s tennis—a pioneering athlete who, after breaking the color barrier, went on to become an influential civil rights activist and public intellectual. Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1943, by the age of eleven, Arthur Ashe was one of the state’s most talented black tennis players. He became the first African American to play for the US Davis Cup team in 1963, and two years later he won the NCAA singles championship. In 1968, he rose to a number one national ranking. Turning professional in 1969, he soon became one of the world’s most successful tennis stars, winning the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975. After retiring in 1980, he served four years as the US Davis Cup captain and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985. In this “deep, detailed, thoughtful chronicle” (The New York Times Book Review), Raymond Arsenault chronicles Ashe’s rise to stardom on the court. But much of the book explores his off-court career as a human rights activist, philanthropist, broadcaster, writer, businessman, and celebrity. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ashe gained renown as an advocate for sportsmanship, education, racial equality, and the elimination of apartheid in South Africa. But from 1979 on, he was forced to deal with a serious heart condition that led to multiple surgeries and blood transfusions, one of which left him HIV-positive. After devoting the last ten months of his life to AIDS activism, Ashe died in February 1993 at the age of forty-nine, leaving an inspiring legacy of dignity, integrity, and active citizenship. Based on prodigious research, including more than one hundred interviews, Arthur Ashe puts Ashe in the context of both his time and the long struggle of African-American athletes seeking equal opportunity and respect, and “will serve as the standard work on Ashe for some time” (Library Journal, starred review).

A biography of African American tennis champion Arthur Ashe, a pioneering minority athlete known for his character, sportsmanship, and activism in social causes such as civil rights and HIV/AIDS awareness. Includes an afterword, author's note, and ph

"Touching and courageous...All of it--the man, the life, the book--is rare and beautiful." COSMOPOLITAN DAYS OF GRACE is an inspiring memoir of a remarkable man who was the true embodiment of courage, elegance, and the spirit to fight: Arthur Ashe--tennis champion, social activist, and person with AIDS. Frank, revealing, touching--DAYS OF GRACE is the story of a man felled to soon. It remains as his legacy to us all.... AN ALTERNATE SELECTION OF THE BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB

"An illustrated middle-grade biography of tennis player Arthur Ashe, the first African American man to win a Grand Slam tournament. Includes sidebars on related topics, timeline, glossary, and recommended reading"--

Discusses the personal life and sports career of the African-American tennis champion, Arthur Ashe, as well as his struggles with racism and AIDS.