Book Recommendations
Learn more about the life of Muhammad Ali
Have you seen our pay-what-you-can streaming of And In This Corner: Cassius Clay by Idris Goodwin (playwright of Ghost)? Want to learn more about the fascinating life of Muhammad Ali? Here are book recommendations from The Novel Neighbor, an independent bookstore in Webster Groves.
Who Was Muhammad Ali?
By James Buckley
Stephen Marchesi (Illustrator)
Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. won the world heavyweight championship at the age of 22, the same year he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. He would go on to become the first and only three-time (in succession) World Heavyweight Champion. Nicknamed “The Greatest,” Ali was as well known for his unique boxing style, consisting of the Ali Shuffle and the rope-a-dope, as he was for the catchphrase “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” He was an uncompromising athlete who brought beauty and grace to a very rough sport and became one of the world’s most famous cultural icons. For ages 8+.
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
By Walter Dean Myers
Walter Dean Myers is the 2012-2013 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. He is the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author an award-winning body of work which includes, Somewhere in the Darkness, Slam!, and Monster. Mr. Myers has received two Newbery Honor medals, five Coretta Scott King Author Awards, and three National Book Award Finalists citations. In addition, he is the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey. For ages 12+.
12 Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali
By Charles R. Smith Jr., Bryan Collier (Illustrator)
"An in-depth look at Ali’s life through twelve rhyming poems… Collier’s bold pictures . . . are among the best of his illustrious career." — Booklist (starred review)
From the moment a fired-up teenager won 1960 Olympic gold to the day when a retired legend, hands shaking from Parkinson’s, returned to raise the Olympic torch, the boxer known as "The Greatest" waged many a fight. Some were in the ring, against opponents like Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier; others were against societal prejudice and a war he refused to support because of his Islamic faith. The rap-inspired verse weaves and bobs and jabs, while bold collage artwork matches every move, capturing the "Louisville loudmouth with the great gift of rhyme" who shed the name Cassius Clay to take on the world as Muhammad Ali. For ages 10+.
The Greatest: My Own Story
By Muhammad Ali, Richard Durham, Toni Morrison (Editor)
Everybody knows the record the stuff of almanacs, trade magazines, and clipping services. A handful know the man. But only Muhammad Ali knows his life as he lived it.
The Greatest is Ali's own story. For six years he worked, traveled and talked with Richard Durham, a writer with a stunning talent, and the result is mesmerizing in its brilliance, drama, humanity and sheer entertainment. This is no documented scrapbook of wins and losses strung together with anecdotes; nor is it a thin potpourri of locker room gags. This book, like Ali who has incited every reaction except indifference goes straight to the place where responses to him have always been the gut. When the history of the twentieth century is finally recorded, it must include Muhammad Ali. He is "The Greatest.”
Muhammad Ali
By Titeux Sybille, Amazing Ameziane (Illustrator)
Cassius Clay is a kid who rushes into boxing by accident, following the theft of his bike. Clay becomes Muhammad Ali, and his talent for the sport is proven when he wins an Olympic Gold Medal. The World Heavyweight Champion never takes a hit without fighting back. Civil Rights activist, contemporary of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, Ali is one of the greatest icons of the twentieth century.