by Ambassador Andrew Young
as told to Paula Young Shelton
Illustrated by Gordon C. James
Scholastic
Available on shelf: August 2, 2022
20 pages
ISBN: 9780545554657
Set in the segregated South, a young boy tells about playing with both black and white kids because nobody what color you were on the playground. Color didn't matter to the kids. What mattered was how fast you were, how well you could throw a ball, how athletic you were.
When Andrew asks his father who Hitler is, his father explains Hitler is the chancellor of Germany and that he believes White Christians are better than colored folks or the Jewish men his father trades with. He explains racism is a sickness and the only way to deal with it is to be the best person you can be.
Father and Andrew to to a movie theater where they must sit in the "Coloreds only section," but Andrew doesn't care once the movie starts. He sees a newsreel of the 1936 Olympics and American athlete Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens inspired young Andrew to be the best he can possibly be "just like Jesse Owens."
The author's and illustrator's notes as well as the paragraph at the end on Jesse Owens help children understand the time period (1936) and Andrew Young's rise in politics as he became an ambassador and "worked with the leadership of the city to bring the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta."
What a lovely tribute to Andrew Young and his family. Soft pastel illustrations by Gordon C. James make Just Like Jesse Owens a piece of artwork with words. Likely to be heavily nominated for many awards this year, Just like Jesse Owens is sure to be in the running for the Caldecott and the Coretta Scott King awards.
Highly, highly recommended grades 1-4 and for every American history classroom.
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