Becoming Muhammad Ali

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade novel in verse and prose
• Originally Published: 2020
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1010L; grades 3-7
• Structure/Length: 10 “Rounds”; approx. 320 pages; approx. 2 hours, 34 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: This fictionalized account of the famed professional boxer’s childhood is told in a mix of prose and verse. Before he becomes Muhammad Ali, young Cassius Clay faces racism, wrestles with school conflicts, and learns boxing in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racism; discussion of racial violence

James Patterson, Author

• Bio: Born in 1947; bestselling American author of fiction and nonfiction, including many adult mysteries and thrillers; awarded the National Humanities Medal (2019) and the National Book Foundation Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community; winner of an Edgar Award (1976) and several Emmy Awards
• Other Works: The Elephant Girl (coauthored with Ellen Banda-Aaku; 2022); The Girl in the Castle (coauthored with Emily Raymond; 2022) Ali Cross: The Secret Detective (2022)

Kwame Alexander, Author

• Bio: Born in 1968 in New York; American novelist, poet, and educator; cofounder of LEAP, an international literacy program in Ghana; founding editor of Versify, a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt imprint; community and literacy activist; recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, the Newbery Medal (for The Crossover; 2015), and the 2017 Pat Conroy Legacy Award
• Other Works: The Crossover (2014); Booked (2016); The Undefeated (2019)

Awards: Longlisted for the Young Hoosier Book Award (2022-2023)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Becoming the Greatest and Overcoming Oppression
• Remembering Who You Are and Where You Came From
• Public and Private Personas

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the historical context regarding Louisville and the United States in the 1950s that informs Cassius Clay’s character development.
• Read and analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s theme of Becoming the Greatest and Overcoming Oppression.
• Analyze symbols within the text to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding Granddaddy Herman’s card trick, the red bicycle, and other topics.