Arthur Ashe

February 1, 2006
Gr. 3-5. Sports and civil rights are both part of the drama in this fictionalized biography in the Childhood of Famous Americans series. Growing up in segregated Richmond, Virginia, Ashe encountered vicious prejudice, including exclusion from the tennis court near his home. Even so, he went on to become an international star on the U.S. tennis team, and he broke the color barrier in the sport. The dialogue, thoughts, and feelings are made up, but the history is accurate. Readers will be caught by the details of Ashe's training, his game techniques, and his victories as well as by his important, sometimes controversial roles in the civil rights struggle and the antiapartheid movement. Despite the series title, there is much here about Ashe's adult life, though the focus is on his public role. Illustrated with occasional full-page black-and-white pictures, this lively introduction ends with a short bibliography that will take readers to documented accounts, including Ashe's memoir, " Days of Grace "(1993).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)