Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper

As a girl, Alice Coachman drew attention in her small Georgia town for her high-jumping skills, even though she used an improvised crossbar made of sticks and rags. After impressing the coach for the Tuskegee Golden Tigerettes and playing with the all-female track team, Coachman set an Olympic trials record and went on to compete at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, becoming the first African-American woman to win gold. Velasquez's majestic, thickly painted oils portray Coachman (b. 1923) with a quiet serenity and assurance, as Malaspina, writing in verse, conveys the magnitude of her accomplishments with agility and lyricism: "As she climbed to the top/ of the winners' stand,/ the crowd rose/ for the bare-feet flying,/ long-legs spinning,/ moon jumper from Georgia." Appended materials include several b&w photographs and biographical details about Coachman's later life. Ages 6-9. (Jan.)

K-Gr 3--With oil paintings crafted from photographs, Velasquez captures the unconventional style of Alice Coachman's high jumps in this picture-book biography of the first African American woman to win an Olympic Gold. Free-verse text focuses on details such as the athlete's tendency to suck lemons during competitions: "the lemon made her feel lightning-fast, /feather-light, moon-jumping strong." Full-bleed images with inset text appear on almost every spread. One shows Coachman as a young girl jumping a twisted cloth strung between two trees while a man comments to her mother that she's likely to jump over the Moon one day. Her mother's response is not included, but her posture conveys her attitude. It was not her parents who encouraged her, though, but teachers who recognized her talent and offered opportunities for her to train and compete. Readers are likely to empathize with this tomboy who loved to run, jump, and play sports with the boys despite her father's admonitions that she "sit on the porch and/be a lady." This book does not emphasize Coachman's racial experiences except for a brief list of issues the Tuskegee Golden Tigerettes faced traveling in the South. An author's note mentions a reception in her hometown where well-wishers were divided by race. Four black-and-white photos of Coachman and a close-up of her medal are included. This is not a resource for reports, but it is an inspiring introduction to an obscure athlete.--Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library