THE LEGEND OF JESSE OWENS (IMPAC

Gr. 7^-12. Although Owens was the grandson of slaves and the youngest child of destitute Alabama sharecroppers, he shared his mother's enthusiasm for life and optimism for success. Ignoring his life-threatening, frail constitution and the corrosive racism of his small southern community, young Jesse latched onto mentors whose confidence in his potential made him the gold medal hero of the 1936 Olympics. Under the subtly profound guidance of his junior-high coach, Owens developed an unwavering faith in himself and a belief in the fairness of the world that not even public ridicule from such divergent agitators as Adolf Hitler and Malcolm X could destroy. This densely detailed biography occasionally sags under the weight of redundancy, but it shows obvious reverence for Owens and the dignity with which he faced his tribulations. In addition, through Owens' example, it offers readers a clear and inspiring picture of how one man overcame his racist enemies by simply being true to himself. Source notes; further reading. Roger Leslie