Jesse Owens (Black American Series)
by Laurie Calkhoven
Category: Juvenile Nonfiction

Sprint around the track and get to know Jesse Owens in this fascinating, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a new series of biographies about people “you should meet.” Meet Jesse Owens, an African American runner who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin! What made his achievement even more memorable was that Adolph Hitler expected the Olympic Games to be a German showcase. In fact, he criticized the United States for even including black athletes on its Olympic roster. According to many reports, after Owens won his fourth gold medal, Hitler stormed out of the stadium. In 1936 Jesse Owens took a stand against racism and made history. A special section at the back of the book includes extras on subjects like history and math, plus a short article filled with interesting facts about the Olympics. With the You Should Meet series, learning about historical figures has never been so fascinating!