Publisher's Weekly Review
Pelé, the Brazilian soccer player famous around the world, is an ideal subject for a graphic biography. His career was a dizzying rags-to-riches story. When Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born, his family had just installed their first electric light, and they named him after Thomas Edison (he acquired his nickname later). His father, a soccer player whose climb to fame was ruined by an early injury, nurtured his son's talent. Pelé's rise to fame was meteoric; he played in his first World Cup match at 17 and gave the car he won to his father. More glory as a player awaited, but his life was complicated by political upheaval in Brazil and by personal crises. His greatest pleasure was to slip away and find ordinary children to practice with. Brascaglia crams as much information and drama into his panels as Simon does into the text. An extra dimension is Pelé's status as an athlete of color in a country where whites held power. The story is gripping straight through, and a sterling choice for reluctant readers. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
[DEBUT] American attitudes toward soccer ebb and flow with World Cups and Olympics, as international stars rise and fall and professional teams work their way to visibility and major league status. But football, a truly international sport, has gradually grown in popularity for many decades, and Pelé's story is a microcosm of its travails and triumphs. Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento and raised in the Brazilian slums, Pelé became the first real soccer superstar. Through hard work, family talent, and a sportsman's bravado, he would go on to win three World Cups with Brazil, score more than 1,200 goals, work to bring professional soccer to the United States, and raise the sport's profile by way of his own star status. Here, newcomers Simon and Brascaglia render a loving but astute biography, drawn in an unadorned, manga-influenced style that focuses on the athlete's complex character. Pelé used strategy as well as speed on the field, respected family deeply, but also abused fame to philander and struggled in business and political ventures. Verdict Though its visual simplicity and vocabulary offer a great read for younger audiences, this volume gets into superfan specifics and sports politics, making it more intricate than it first appears.-Emilia Packard, Austin, TX © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.