From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up-Wilds's informative biography traces the life of a little-known African-American champion from his childhood in late-19th-century Indianapolis, where he discovered the newly popular sport, through his racing exploits throughout the world as he won numerous competitions. His tenacity served him well as he encountered racism and segregation. While this book is an important contribution to African-American biographies, evidence of the author's scholarship and research is lacking. Uncredited dialogue is included, and, while Taylor's autobiography is mentioned, its title and publication information are not. These discrepancies should be noted before selecting this title. A modest number of grainy, black-and-white photos of Taylor and his family are included.
Carol Fazioli, formerly at The Brearley School, New York City
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Carol Fazioli, formerly at The Brearley School, New York City
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. How good was Major Taylor? He won his first gold medal at age 14 in a race that he didn't know he had been signed up for until the last moment. He then went on to become the first U.S.-born black bicyclist to win both a national and a world championship, and to become the first to set an official world's record in his chosen sport. He was adored overseas though he encountered prejudice at home. He died in obscurity in 1932, but in his prime, around the turn of the twentieth century, he was all but unbeatable, made pots of money, married a socialite, and enjoyed celebrity status. Wilds discusses Taylor's character as well as his accomplishments, concluding with an account of his modern "re-discovery." Her claim that he was the first African American to integrate a professional sports team is moot, as there were several nineteenth-century black baseball players, but she's to be applauded for introducing an indisputably underrecognized groundbreaker. Children tantalized by Mary Scioscia's Bicycle Rider (1983) will, at last, be able to satisfy their curiosity with this full-length biography. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
