John Florio – författare

It was 1976 when Leon and Michael Spinks first punched their way into America’s living rooms. That year, they became the first brothers to win Olympic gold in the same Games. Shortly thereafter, they became the first brothers to win the heavyweight title: Leon toppled The Greatest, Muhammad Ali; Michael beat the unbeatable Larry Holmes. With a cast of characters that includes Ali, Holmes, Mike Tyson, Gerry Cooney, Dwight Qawi, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and dozens of friends, relatives, and boxing figures, ONE PUNCH FROM THE PROMISED LAND tells the unlikely story of the Spinks brothers. Their rise from the Pruitt-Igoe housing disaster. Their divergent paths of success. And their relationship with America. The book also uncovers stories never before made public: the big paydays, the high living, the backroom deals. It’s not afraid to tackle an issue rarely discussed: Does the heavyweight title deliver on its promise to young men in the inner city? This is the definitive story of Leon and Michael Spinks. And a cross-examination of heavyweight boxing in 20th century America.

From John Florio and Emmy Award-winning writer Ouisie Shapiro comes a monumental YA nonfiction book about the heartbreaking case of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants who were wrongfully executed for murder.In the early 1920s, a Red Scare gripped America. Many of those targeted were Italians, Eastern Europeans, and other immigrants.When an armed robbery resulting in the death of two people broke headlines in Massachusetts, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti—both Italian immigrants—were quick to be accused.A heated trial ensued, but through it all, the two men maintained their innocence. The controversial case quickly rippled past borders as it became increasingly clear that Sacco and Vanzetti were fated for a death sentence. Protests sprang up around the world to fight for their lives.Learn the tragic history we dare not repeat in Doomed: Sacco, Vanzetti, and the End of the American Dream, an action-packed, fast-paced nonfiction book filled with issues that still resonate today.Praise for Doomed“A riveting true crime story—but who are the criminals? As relevant today as it was a century ago.” - Steve Sheinkin, author of Bomb and Fallout

War in the Ring presents a riveting nonfiction book for kids about a boxing match that represented the growing tensions between the United States and Nazi Germany in the lead up to World War II.Joe Louis was born on an Alabama cotton patch and raised in a Detroit ghetto. Max Schmeling grew up in poverty in Hamburg, Germany. For both boys, boxing was a path out and a ladder up. Little did they know that they would one day face each other in a pair of matches that would capture the world's attention.Joe grew into a symbol of inspiration to a nation of Black Americans hoping to carve a slice of the 'American Dream' in a racially fractured country. Max, on the other hand, became a Nazi symbol for the superiority of the Aryan race.The battles waged between Joe and Max still resonate, and the cultural implications of the international sensation continue to reverberate far past the ring.