Twelve Rounds to Glory : The Story of Muhammad Ali

A dynamic author-illustrator team follows the threetime heavyweight champ through twelve rounds of a remarkable life. " Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. . . . I? m the prettiest thing that ever lived!" From the moment a fired-up teenager from Kentucky won 1960 Olympic gold to the day in 1996 when a retired legend, hands shaking from Parkinson? s, returned to raise the Olympic torch, the boxer known as " The Greatest" waged many a fight. Some were in the ring, against opponents like Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier; others were against societal prejudice and against a war he refused to support because of his Islamic faith. Charles R. Smith Jr.? s rap-inspired verse weaves and bobs and jabs with relentless energy, while Bryan Collier? s bold collage artwork matches every move ? capturing the " Louisville loudmouth with the great gift of rhyme" who shed the name Cassius Clay to take on the world as Muhammad Ali.