A Nation's Hope: the Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis - Softcover

De La Peña, Matt

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0147510619 ISBN 13: 9780147510617

Publisher: Puffin Books, 2013

Synopsis

The magnificent, inspiring story of an
AMERICAN SPORTS HERO, by Newbery Award-winning author Matt de la Pena.

On the eve of World War II, African-American boxer Joe Louis fought German Max Schmeling in a bout that had more at stake than just the world heavyweight title. For much of America, their fight came to represent America’s war with Germany. This elegant and powerful picture book biography centers on this historic fight in which the American people came together to celebrate our nation’s founding ideals. 

New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award 
Booklist Editor's Choice Best Books of 2011 
School Library Journal Best Books of 2011

About this title

About the Author:

Matt de la Pena, an acclaimed novelist, lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Kadir Nelson, New York Times bestselling author and two-time Caldecott Honor winner lives in San Diego, California.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* Sometimes a boxing match is just that, a sport played out on the fists and jaws of two determined contenders. But sometimes it is so much more, as in the 1938 bout between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. This spectacularly illustrated, smoothly cadenced picture book sets up the historic fightSon of a black sharecropper / against Hitlers master race / Black and white Americans / together against the rule of Nazi hateand then quickly traces Louis rise from a quiet boy in Jim Crow America to a magnificent fighter and national hero. Nelson, whos incapable of even a mediocre painting, flexes his artistic muscle here, varying his always effective blue-sky-backed, leveled-gaze portraits with dizzying and dramatic angles, both in and out of the ring. The full weight of the fights import may need some additional historical context for young readers, but the message rings through in any case: that this was a unifying and triumphant moment of national pride, for all Americans, and that sports can capture peoples hearts for more reasons than just winning. Grades 1-3. --Ian Chipman

About this edition

• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0147510619
• ISBN 13: 9780147510617
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Nelson Kadir