Basketball - Biography, African American Athletes - Biography, Basketball - Players & Teams

Magic Johnson

Name: Magic Johnson
Author: Keith Elliot Greenberg
ISBN: 9780822505464

by Keith Elliot Greenberg

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Overview

One week into the 1991-92 NBA season, three-time league MVP Magic Johnson stunned the world when he announced that he had been infected with the virus that eventually causes AIDS. He would be ending his playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers.This inspiring biography takes a look at the many sides of basketball's magic man.

Profiles the life and career of Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the talented guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, three-time most valuable player in the National Basketball Association, and discusses his efforts to deal with the AIDS virus.

About the Author, Keith Elliot Greenberg

Keith Greenberg

Keith Elliot Greenberg covered the Cynthia George case for Geraldo At Large. He is a writer whose works include true crime and wrestler Ric Flair’s #5 New York Times bestselling autobiography, To Be the Man, for which Greenberg was the co-author.

Detective Vince Felber’s work on the Jeffrey Zack case helped secure murder convictions at trial.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This is a stimulating, reliable example of cogent sports biography for children. While touching on Johnson's childhood, high school and college experiences, Greenberg's work remains a basic recap of one man's astonishing career in basketball. Characterized by an active, play-by-play immediacy, the book is liberally sprinkled with quotes from the national sports pages, generously laced with fan-pleasing statistics, and complemented by well-placed black-and-white file photos throughout. The biographical matter is framed by an opening chapter, ``Hero,'' that describes last fall's press conference at which the athlete went public with news of his HIV infection. The final chapter, ``Looking Ahead,'' tells of Johnson's new role as a candid and forthright spokesperson for the importance of safer sex and/or sexual abstinence. Ages 9-14. (May)

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-- Greenberg presents the standard and well-documented details of Johnson's athletic career sandwiched between chapters on how he's dealing with his affliction. While breaking no new ground, the book directly addresses how the the star athlete believes he contracted the AIDS virus and discusses the message he wants to deliver to the public about being at risk. There is no attempt to offer a scientific explanation of HIV or AIDS. While not sloppy in its praise for Johnson, the author uses the term ``hero'' in describing the way he has faced his physical condition. Average-quality black-and-white photographs appear on almost every page. A page of Johnson's college and professional basketball statistics and career highlights is appended. An adequate update to Jim Haskins's Sports Great Magic Johnson (Enslow, 1989). --Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI