Starred Review Told in first person from the viewpoint of Andrew Young as a child growing up in New Orleans, the story begins with one of his white playmates showing off the nickel that his Aunt Ida has paid him "not to play with those Colored boys,' but Norbie didn't pay her no never mind." Later, Andy asks his father about Hitler supporters in their neighborhood. His father explains racism as a sickness, saying, "We've got to help those folks," and encouraging Andy to be the best person he can be, by doing homework, practicing baseball, being polite, and greeting everyone without regard to skin color. Soon, at a theater they must enter by the back stairs, Andy and his father watch newsreels featuring Jesse Owens winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, further inspiring Andy to work hard and become the best he can be. This memorable picture book retells a family story based on Young's childhood experiences. Later, he became a civil rights leader, a U.S. Congressman, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and the mayor of Atlanta. The book's large format showcases James' vivid, impressionistic, chalk-pastel artwork. Adding dialogue that is true to the period, Shelton ung's daughter ommunicates a meaningful message from the past that resonates with equal power today.

Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood ("It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!' "). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens ("a runner who looked like me") triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. "Racism is a sickness," his father tells him. "We've got to help folks like that." How? "Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be," his father replies. "It's what you do that counts." In James' hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with "those Colored boys") in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater's segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero-"head up, back straight, eyes focused," as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)A pivotal moment in a child's life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator's note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)

The Olympic success of Jesse Owens serves as inspiration in Young’s childhood narrative, as relayed by his daughter Young Shelton. Before becoming a fixture of the civil rights movement, Andrew Young (b. 1932) was a middle-class Black boy in segregated New Orleans where, on the playground, “kids didn’t care what color you were. What mattered most was how fast you could run and tag.” Episodic scenes detail Young’s family life; men in the neighborhood shouting what sounded like “Hi, Hitler!”; and a trip to the Orpheum Theater, where, from the “Colored Only” section, Young watches Jesse Owens, “a runner who looked like me, winning over and over and over again” at the 1936 Olympics in Germany. Seeing Owens win four gold medals “in front of a man who thought people like me were not as good as White people” galvanizes him to “play harder, work harder, and try harder... to be the best I could be.” In hazy pastels, James creates a dreamlike backdrop for the historically resonant recollection. Creators’ notes conclude. Ages 6–8. (Aug.)