Who Was Jesse Owens?

by James Buckley Jr.

Other authorsGregory Copeland (Illustrator)
Paperback, 2015

Status

Available

Local notes

921 OWE

Barcode

5437

Collection

Publication

Grosset and Dunlap (2015), Edition: Dgs, 106 pages. (Mar 2018). Paperback. $5.99.

Description

Describes the life of the sharecroppers' son who became an Olympic legend and challenged Hitler's dream of Aryan superiority.

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

106 p.; 5.38 inches

User reviews

LibraryThing member Othemts
Jesse Owens is well-known as a legendary track and field star who was a pioneer for black athletes, attending Ohio State University, going to the Olympics, and winning four gold medals. Much is made of Owens being a black man demonstrating his prowess in front of Hitler and the Nazis, but this book
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also points out that German fans cheered for him and a German athletes befriended him. There's also a unsettling moment when it appears that the US Olympic Team may have made Owens run a relay in place of a Jewish runner. Celebrated at home, Owens also received jeers from prejudiced whites and from more radical blacks who thought he should not have gone to Nazi Germany. Later in life, Owens criticizes the Civil Rights movement but later has a changed of heart. All in all this is a story of remarkable and complex man, and I appreciate that this children's biography worked through the many layers of nuance.
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
Solid short biography of Jesse Owens. I like the images selected, and I think the book does a fair job chronicling both his triumphs and his missteps.

Lexile

880L

Pages

106

Rating

(13 ratings; 4.3)
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