A review by jwinchell
Becoming Muhammad Ali by Kwame Alexander, James Patterson

4.0

I loved this historical biography written in prose (Cassius’ childhood friend and future writer Lucky) and verse (Cassius himself, written by the ever talented Kwame Alexander). It starts with the 1959 Golden Gloves championship and then jumps back in time to the Clay’s childhood and discovery of boxing. Told in 10 rounds (an introduction by Lucky and a series of poems narrated by Clay), the book is also illustrated with wonderful black and white images. The wrap up of the rest of Clay’s life and reincarnation as Muhammad Ali is short but sufficient. For any lover of boxing who wants to know about the legendary Cassius Clay before he became Muhammad Ali. I’ll be buying multiple copies of this one.