Althea Gibson

The Story of Tennis' 
Fleet-of-Foot Girl

Balzer + Bray
(pub. 1.1.2020) 
40 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor:  Megan Reid
       and illustrator:  Laura Freeman

 
C haracter: Althea Gibson

O verview: 
     "Althea Gibson was the quickest, tallest, most fearless athlete in 1940s Harlem. She couldn’t sit still! When she put her mind to it, the fleet-of-foot girl reigned supreme at every sport—stickball with the boys, basketball with the girls, paddle tennis with anyone who would hit with her.
         But being the quickest, tallest, most fearless player in Harlem wasn’t enough for Althea. She knew she could be a tennis champion.
          Because of segregation, black people weren’t allowed to compete against white people in sports. Althea didn’t care. She just wanted to play tennis against the best athletes in the world. And with skill and determination, she did just that, eventually becoming the first black person—man or woman—to win a trophy at Wimbledon."

T antalizing taste: 
     "The championships in 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."

And something more: In the Author's Note, Megan Reid writes: "As a child, I was often told I was 'too much': too opinionated, too headstrong, too tall, too skinny, too black, too energetic to fit in. Maybe that's why I've always been fascinated by the stories of girls and women who were also told that their interests and goals made them 'too much' for the society they lived in. My idols were Janet Reno, Michelle Kwan, and Dominque Dawes (not to mention Anne of Green Gables and Meg Murry) - but I  wish I'd known Althea Gibson's story....
     In researching Althea's story, I was deeply touched by the extraordinary support she received from other women. Her tennis idol, Alice Marble, advocated for her after a young Althea saw her play. Her Jewish British tennis partner, Angela Buxton, became a friend, roommate, and coconspirator in lots of  fun, and it was with Angela that Althea actually won her first Wimbledon title, for doubles tennis in 1956... 
     I'm so glad that Althea had safe places where she didn't need to be tough, even as she fought to earn the right to play tennis with the best."