Wesley Snipes

KLIATT

This "Black Americans of Achievement" biography series, classified as juvenile literature, is available in hardcover editions as well as the paperbacks, at twice the price. They are filled with b/w photographs and each contains the same introductory essay on achievement by Coretta Scott King. Each book emphasizes the obstacles to achievement each subject faced; for example, Halle Berry's father was an alcoholic who deserted his white wife and two bi-racial daughters when Halle was just four years old. The authors of that biography are careful to talk about the problems of alcoholic parents, bi-racial marriages, growing up black in a white community and other things that Halle personally has had to deal with—plus she is a diabetic. Some of the subjects, such as Danny Glover, were born and spent their childhoods in the South during segregation. Angela Bassett was born to a struggling family in Harlem in the 1950s. The sure-fire selection for YA readers is the biography of Venus Williams. Her obstacles to achievement? "[Tennis stars] do not normally come from a burned-out, gang-ruled neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles. They do not normally have to worry about gunfire, or practice with old balls on the broken glass-covered neighborhood courts, as Venus Williams did. They have not normally been coached by a father who taught himself tennis from books and instructional videos, as Venus Williams was coached." These are clearly meant to be inspirational. The covers are full-color portraits of the subject. Category: Biography & Personal Narrative. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2001, Chelsea House, 104p. illus. bibliog. index., Ages 13 to18. Reviewer: Claire Rosser; KLIATT