Monday, February 2, 2015

Ali An American Champion by Barry Denenberg - - OPTIONAL


Denenberg, Barry Ali An American Champion, 81 pgs. Simon and Schuster, 2014. $17.99. NON FICTION Language: G (0 swears); Violence: PG; Mature Content: G.  

An account of the career of Olympic Gold Medalist, and  American Boxer, the controversial Muhammad Ali.  Denenberg uses fictional interviews, newspaper stories and media releases to give this biography a realistic feel.  Also included is civil rights news of the time.   

While the photographs are authentic, and a bibliography is included, the fact that the text is represented as media from the time is disappointing.  I would rather read actual news articles, radio transcripts and interviews.   Is this a book about Civil Rights? Is it a biography of Muhammad Ali? Denenberg has done his research and he tells a good story, but there is too much other stuff. The collection of information that isn’t really the primary sources that it looks like might be misleading to a young reader. I’m glad I read the author’s note at the beginning.  

MS - OPTIONAL  Lisa Librarian

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