This story of the great athlete and pathbreaker Althea Gibson, born in 1927, begins provocatively:

“The championships at Wimbledon, England, were where the most famous tennis athletes in the world competed to be the best.
Sharp white collars.
Sharp white pleats.
Sharp white lines.
But in 1940s Harlem, the quickest, tallest, most fearless athlete was Althea Gibson.”

We then learn how, while growing up in Harlem, Althea played stickball, basketball, and paddle tennis with anyone she could, and was always the best. She heard about a place where blacks could play tennis - the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club, and the managers let her get lessons in exchange for doing odd jobs around the club.

But as the author points out:

“Clubs like the Cosmopolitan were rare. Who could challenge Althea when she had already beat everyone there?”

The author does not include the fact that Althea’s big break occurred when two African American physicians offered her a home, secondary schooling, tennis instruction, and the encouragement and financial support to realize her potential. Gibson lived with one of the families in Wilmington, North Carolina during the school year and spent the summer perfecting her tennis game on the other's backyard tennis court in Lynchburg, Virginia. She went on to win the all-black American Tennis Association (ATA) women's singles ten years in a row (1947 – 1956), establishing herself as the best black woman tennis player.

The author does say in her back matter, however, that Althea received extraordinary support from other women of all backgrounds. For example, in 1950, white tennis champion Alice Marble declared in American Lawn Tennis magazine:

"[Gibson] is not being judged by the yardstick of ability but by the fact that her pigmentation is somewhat different.”

It was largely owing to Marble's influence that the invitations started coming in, and Althea entered Wimbledon in 1951, becoming the first African American to play there. She lost at first, but she was no quitter: “‘The more I am beaten, the more I will learn,’ she said.”

She traveled the world, and in France, she became the first black person to win a Grand Slam. But Althea had set her sights on Wimbledon, and in 1957 she did it: she became the first black person - man or woman - to win a championship at Wimbledon. (She also won the women’s doubles championship later in the day.) She won again in 1958. Best of all, the author writes, back in New York that summer they threw Althea a ticker-tape parade:

“They cheered loudly for the quickest, tallest, most fearless girl Harlem had ever seen.”

Illustrators of other picture books about tennis champions have stuck to the somewhat uninteresting colors and scenes of tennis matches. Laura Freeman, however, uses bold colors and cleverly informative backgrounds in her double-page spreads not only capturing Althea’s spunky personality but adding historical details that enhance the narrative.

An author’s note provides additional information on Gibson’s life and detail about both her tennis and pro golf careers. (She was the first black woman to play golf professionally as part of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.) The end matter also includes a timeline of important dates in Althea’s life and a short bibliography of recommended reading. The recommended audience is age 6 and up.

Evaluation: The author accentuates the dedication and perseverance of Gibson, but it took more than skill alone for Gibson to succeed. Reid elides over all the help Gibson received from sympathetic people of both races to help realize her dreams. Rather, she emphasizes the message that determination and indefatigability, certainly important ingredients for Gibson's accomplishments, can result in success, even when it seems like the whole world is against you. ( )