King: A Life (Young Adult Edition) - by Jonathan Eig (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Hailed as "the most compelling account of [Martin Luther] King's life in a generation" by the Washington Post, the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller is now adapted for young adults in this new standard biography of the most famous civil rights activist in American History.

Often regarded as more of a myth and legend than man, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was many things throughout his storied life: student, activist, preacher, dreamer, father, husband. From his Atlanta childhood centered in the historically Black neighborhood of Sweet Auburn to his precipitous rise as a civil rights leader on the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery, Dr. King would go on to become one of the most recognizable, influential, and controversial persons of the twentieth century.

In this fast-paced and immersive adaptation of Jonathan Eig's groundbreaking New York Times bestseller readers will meet a Dr. King like no other: a committed radical whose demands for racial and economic justice remain as urgent today as they were in his lifetime, a minister wrestling with his human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government.

The inspiring young adult edition of King: A Life highlights the author's never-before-seen research--including recently declassified FBI documents--while reaffirming and recontextualizing the lasting effects and implications of MLK's work for the present day. Adapted by National Book Award-nominated authors Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, this biography for a new generation is a nuanced, unprecedented portrayal of a man who truly shook the world.

Accolades and Praise for King: A Life:

Pulitzer Prize Winner
A New York Times, Washington Post, and Indie Bestseller
A National Book Award Nominee
One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year
A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
A "Best Book of the Year" from New York Times ● Washington Post ● TIME Magazine ● The New Yorker ● Publishers Weekly ● The Chicago Tribune ● Smithsonian Magazine ● Christian Science Monitor ● Air Mail

"Supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling and compulsively readable . . . Eig's book is worthy of its subject." --New York Times

"No book could be more timely than Jonathan Eig's sweeping and majestic new King." --Philadelphia Inquirer

Review Quotes

A Junior Library Guild Selection

"This searching study leaves King's shining legacy intact, all the more admirable for its attachment to a fallible man who is glimpsed here behind the icon. A frank and nuanced character study." --Kirkus Reviews

"Decades of Martin Luther King Jr. biographies may suggest that there's no uniquely compelling approach left to documenting the life of the oft-lionized civil rights leader, but award-winning biographer Eig frames this adapted edition as an effort to make Dr. King 'a person, not just a monument, not just a holiday, not just Mr. I-Have-a-Dream.' . . . While the backmatter offers the meat for potential Black history month book reports (e.g., extra facts, a timeline), a strength of this young readers' edition is how it whets the appetite for further exploration of this invaluable historical moment as well as Little Mike himself." --BCCB

"Eig, along with Williams and Long, presents a comprehensive time line of Martin Luther King's entire life, from birth to untimely death . . . By describing who King was as a person and how he came to achieve what he did, this supports young readers' journeys to not just read about King but to understand him." --Booklist

"An honest and engaging account of King. Harsh truths about the state of the country, as well as the difficulties endured by persons of color, underscore how far the U.S. has come, and still has to go, on the journey to achieve King's dream . . . A good choice to middle and high school biography shelves." --School Library Journal

About the Author

Jonathan Eig is the bestselling author of Ali: A Life, winner of a 2018 PEN America Literary Award and a finalist for the Mark Lynton History Prize. He also served as a senior consulting producer for the PBS series Muhammad Ali. His first book, Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, won the Casey Award. Eig's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and have been listed among the best of the year by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. He lives in Chicago with his wife and children.

Michael G. Long is the author or editor of several books on politics, nonviolent protests, and civil rights history, including Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter; More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; Martin Luther King, Jr., Homosexuality, and the Early Gay Rights Movement; and Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall. His commentary about civil rights has appeared in many national media outlets such as the Afro, the Los Angeles Times, and ESPN. Long also served as an expert historian for Ken Burns's documentary on Jackie Robinson. He lives in Pennsylvania.

Yohuru Williams is a professor of history and founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. A regular contributor to a variety of media programming on CNN and History, he is the author of numerous books, including Teaching US History Beyond the Textbook; Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter; and More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The former chief historian of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, he appeared in Ken Burns's Jackie Robinson and was one of the hosts of Sound Smart, the History Channel's popular YouTube program. His educational videos on civil rights, social movements, and other historic events have garnered over 1 million views. He lives in Minnesota.