A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis Elizabeth Bush de la Peña, Matt. A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis; illus. by Kadir Nelson. Dial, 2011. [40p.] ISBN 978-0-8037-3167-7 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R 5-8 yrs. Young boxing fans have had plenty of literary opportunities to relive Muhammad Ali's epic bouts, but fewer will be familiar with the high-stakes 1938 rematch between African-American Joe Louis and German Max Schmeling, which briefly united racially divided Americans against their common nemesis, the Nazi regime. de la Peña, always a deft hand at setting a sports scene, opens with the boxers behind the ropes at Yankee Stadium: "The bell dings and the two men raise fists,/come together under a deafening roar." He then launches an extended flashback into Louis' rise from a stammering youth to a determined athlete who had to hold all victory celebration in check when he defeated white opponents. Louis' 1936 loss to Schmeling, regarded by Hitler as vindication of Aryan supremacy, was also a blow to American pride, and thus his win in the rematch sent the "entire stadium in pandemonium,/white men hugging black men/and black men hugging back." de la Peña's tersely poetic narration is riveting, and Nelson's oil paintings draw viewers directly into the ring- and radio-side action. Though the unnuanced portrayal of Schmeling (and absence of notes) is likely to leave audiences with the incorrect impression that the German was himself a Nazi, with adult explanation this could be an excellent vehicle for starting a discussion about propaganda, as well as a significant addition to a sports history collection. [End Page 232] Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois