Becoming Muhammad Ali Review

A great book! Love the rhyming and descriptive devices! Overall, a nice poetry book. 4.5/5 stars! ( )

Well that was so interesting and well written. From the documentaries I've seen about the great Muhammad Ali I feel like his spirit was captured incredibly well in this book! Perfect for NZ Y6 through to Y9! ( )

The story of how Cassius Clay started boxing and his growing up in Louisville. The book alternates between poetry and prose. Muhammad Ali's voice is captured in poetry and his friend, Lucky, an aspiring writer, writes in prose.
I didn't love the audiobook as much as I thought I might.
Interesting look into the history of Muhammad Ali and engagingly read by Kwame Alexander. ( )

The book's layout and alternating prose/poetic voices are very appealing, as well as the illustrations throughout. Does a good job of concentrating details from the time period and from Ali's early life, and pulling them into a believable story. I found it a little hard to get into and to stay engaged with -- not exactly a page turner, and I think it's really helpful to know the context of who he was and his later life. Given that this book is intended for an elementary school audience, that may not be the case. The book does briefly cover the rest of his life, but is very concentrated on his family and home. Cool addition to the works about Muhammed Ali. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 4-8

Plot Summary: Cassius has a confident air about him and he knows he wants fight. After seeing a boxing ring in his neighborhood, he convinces his parents to let him go after school. He wants to be the best, so Cassius stays focused on his goal, even while maintaining his tight friendships.

Setting:

Characters:
Cassius Clay - intelligent, likely had dyslexia, questioned racism
Lucky - AKA Lucius, Cassius's friend
Mr. Clay - AKA Cash, AKA Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr., Cassius's dad
Bird - AKA Odessa Clay, Cassius's mom
Riney, Rudy, Cobb - Cassius's friends
Corky Butler - bully
Grandaddy Herman - Cassius's grandpa

Recurring Themes: determination, motivation, focus, strength, confidence, family, friendship, goals, learning disability, dyslexia,

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: This fictional account of Cassius's childhood is written based on the authors' research. The Muhammad Ali Estate reached out to James Patterson to write it. It was fabulous. Mostly told in verse with occasional narrative starts to a chapter, it is clear how admirable and impressive Cassius was as a child. He questioned the way the world worked, especially with racism, he was giving, and he was extremely intelligent, although he struggled with reading because of a likely learning disability. The only complaint is that sometimes I couldn't tell who was narrating the book. It seemed like it switched, but maybe not?

Genre: historical fiction

Pacing: fast - mostly told in verse
Characters: it was very clear when they were describing Cassius, but some of his friends blended together, good characterization with telling instead of showing
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )