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Who Was Jesse Owens?

Part of Who Was?

Author James Buckley, Jr., Who HQ
Illustrated by Gregory Copeland
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Paperback
$6.99 US
Penguin Young Readers | Penguin Workshop
5.31"W x 7.63"H x 0.25"D   | 4 oz | 72 per carton
On sale Aug 11, 2015 | 112 Pages | 9780448483078
Age 8-12 years | Grades 3-7
Reading Level: Lexile 880L | Fountas & Pinnell X
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At the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, track and field star Jesse Owens ran himself straight into international glory by winning four gold medals. But the life of Jesse Owens is much more than a sports story. Born in rural Alabama under the oppressive Jim Crow laws, Owens's family suffered many hardships. As a boy he worked several jobs like delivering groceries and working in a shoe repair shop to make ends meet. But Owens defied the odds to become a sensational student athlete, eventually running track for Ohio State. He was chosen to compete in the Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany where Adolf Hitler was promoting the idea of “Aryan superiority.”  Owens’s winning streak at the games humiliated Hitler and crushed the myth of racial supremacy once and for all.
James Buckley Jr. is a prolific author of nonfiction for young readers, with more than 150 books to his credit (and still typing!). He is the author of more than a dozen titles in the New York Times bestselling Who Was? biography series, including books on the Wright Brothers, Milton Hershey, Betsy Ross, Jules Verne, and Blackbeard. View titles by James Buckley, Jr.
Who HQ is your headquarters for history. The Who HQ team is always working to provide simple and clear answers to some of our biggest questions. From Who Was George Washington? to Who Is Michelle Obama?, and What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? to Where Is the Great Barrier Reef?, we strive to give you all the facts. Visit us at WhoHQ.com View titles by Who HQ
Gregory Copeland View titles by Gregory Copeland

Who Was
Jesse Owens?

In rural Alabama, Jesse Owens sprinted across farmland and ran along dirt roads. He ran to the fields where he picked one hundred pounds of cotton a day. He ran to the orchards where he and his large family picked fruit from the trees. He ran with friends, playing games when they were not working alongside their parents.

Jesse ran because it made him feel free.

“I always loved running,” he later said. “It was something you could do by yourself and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet.”

“Jesse would run and play just like everyone else,” his cousin Mattie Taylor said of those days of playing in Alabama. “But you could never catch him.”

. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About

At the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, track and field star Jesse Owens ran himself straight into international glory by winning four gold medals. But the life of Jesse Owens is much more than a sports story. Born in rural Alabama under the oppressive Jim Crow laws, Owens's family suffered many hardships. As a boy he worked several jobs like delivering groceries and working in a shoe repair shop to make ends meet. But Owens defied the odds to become a sensational student athlete, eventually running track for Ohio State. He was chosen to compete in the Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany where Adolf Hitler was promoting the idea of “Aryan superiority.”  Owens’s winning streak at the games humiliated Hitler and crushed the myth of racial supremacy once and for all.

Author

James Buckley Jr. is a prolific author of nonfiction for young readers, with more than 150 books to his credit (and still typing!). He is the author of more than a dozen titles in the New York Times bestselling Who Was? biography series, including books on the Wright Brothers, Milton Hershey, Betsy Ross, Jules Verne, and Blackbeard. View titles by James Buckley, Jr.
Who HQ is your headquarters for history. The Who HQ team is always working to provide simple and clear answers to some of our biggest questions. From Who Was George Washington? to Who Is Michelle Obama?, and What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? to Where Is the Great Barrier Reef?, we strive to give you all the facts. Visit us at WhoHQ.com View titles by Who HQ
Gregory Copeland View titles by Gregory Copeland

Excerpt

Who Was
Jesse Owens?

In rural Alabama, Jesse Owens sprinted across farmland and ran along dirt roads. He ran to the fields where he picked one hundred pounds of cotton a day. He ran to the orchards where he and his large family picked fruit from the trees. He ran with friends, playing games when they were not working alongside their parents.

Jesse ran because it made him feel free.

“I always loved running,” he later said. “It was something you could do by yourself and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet.”

“Jesse would run and play just like everyone else,” his cousin Mattie Taylor said of those days of playing in Alabama. “But you could never catch him.”

. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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