Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court
A personal, vulnerable and inspiring story of Lew Alcinor before and as he became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – his challenges, his choices, and his motivations. An engaging and thought-provoking read for any basketball fan out there…
- (Auto)biography
- Novels
- 11-14
- 7-10
- Family
- Friendship
- Self-discovery
- Sports
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SYNOPSIS
As a young boy, Lew is shy, tall and a good student.
His parents, stern and withdrawn, send him away to a Catholic boarding school in the 4th grade where peers ridicule and attack him for his smarts and skin color.
That is where Lew first finds solace in basketball and learns a harsh life lesson of coping with overt and subtle racism, sometimes coming from close friends and role models.
Back in Manhattan for middle and high school, Lew becomes a distinguished scholar and an accomplished athlete.
A summer journalism workshop during high school helps solidify Lew’s commitment to civil rights and enables impactful encounters, including with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and basketball star Will Chamberlain.
In college at UCLA, Lew meets lifelong friends and mentors, finds his spiritual identity in Islam, and excels in his athletic career.
His friendships, faith and hard work are crucial for Kareem’s tremendous professional success and wide-ranging impact.
PERFECT AGE 9-13
We love
- Impactful detailed descriptions of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of racist treatment as an unsuspecting child
- Throughout the narrative, Abdul-Jabbar emphasizes hard work and practice as important to success as talent A rich view into the impact the civil rights movement had on a young person exploring his identity
WATCH OUT FOR (Language, Big / Sensitive Topics, Outdated Concepts):
- Abdul-Jabbar describes multiple occasions when others refer to him with an explicit racial slur – by a coach, a friend, a stranger in a restaurant
CONVERSATION STARTERS
- Kareem’s childhood friend, Johnny, unexpectedly became cruel toward him. How do you think this made Kareem feel? How would you try to recover if something like this happened to you?
- Kareem says that Muhammad Ali taught him “what to do with winning”. What does he mean by that?
- What else did Kareem focus on at UCLA, besides practicing basketball? Why do you think he valued academic success too?
- Kareem wrote that this book is meant to help others. In what ways do you feel this book helped you? What are some helpful lessons you learned from his story?
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