This soaring tribute to Owens reserves biographical details for the afterword, focusing instead on his Olympics experience from arrival in Berlin to triumphant ticker-tape parade back in New York. In free verse that occasionally verges on the hyperbolic (“Who knew that you would trample / German might like a clod of dust / in a field of glory?”), Weatherford describes each event, noting Hitler’s hostility but also the support that Owens received, both from the crowds and from fellow athletes like Luz Long, his German competitor in the broad jump. Using pastels on rough paper, Velasquez mixes scenes of the muscular Owens in action with vignettes of other significant moments, aptly capturing the drama and excitement of the occasion. A pulse-pounding, if occasionally over-the-top, alternative to the more conventional likes of David A. Adler’s Picture Book of Jesse Owens (1992) or Patricia and Frederick McKissack’s Jesse Owens, Olympic Star (rev. ed., 2001). Perfunctory reading list appended. (Picture book/biography. 7-9)
