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Smith, Charles, R.

Major Taylor: World Cycling Champion

48 pp. | Candlewick | September, 2023 | Trade ISBN 9781536214987 $18.99
(3) K-3 Illustrated by Leo Espinosa. Smith introduces African American cycling legend Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (1878-1932) to a new generation. Beginning with prose and then switching gears to (sometimes-clunky) verse, the story focalizes Taylor's remarkable performance in the grueling Six-Day Bicycle Race at Madison Square Garden when he was eighteen years old. Through chronological flashbacks, readers meet an even younger Taylor performing bicycle stunts in front the bike store where he worked and winning amateur races in jaw-dropping fashion. Smith does not soft-pedal the challenges Taylor faced while breaking the color barrier in sports. Espinosa's cinematic digital illustrations in a palette of largely neutral colors use dynamic visual perspectives to propel the story with drama and charged emotion. Back matter includes a timeline, bibliography, and supplementary profile of Taylor.
Reviewer: Summer Edward

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