This graphic novel offers an in-depth look at the life of soccer superstar Pelé. From his childhood and early life to his rise to glory and his older years. The graphic format brings color and dimension to the story, illustrating the full context of Pelé’s story, from his surroundings to the political and cultural climate at the various times throughout his life. While I’m not sure this would be a good addition to my middle school library, it is nonetheless an interesting depiction of the life of this legendary man and soccer star.

I am a big proponent of graphic biographies, particularly when the subject's life is characterized by action or art, as with this pair. While a traditional text biography can quickly become overwhelming, representing life events visually engages the reader quickly. These two biographies are particularly good choices for a number of reasons. 1) They're names most will recognized but know very little about. 2) The art styles are appealing and reflective of the subjects lives. 3) The authors don't white wash. They acknowledge the mistakes these men made, the ways their egos hurt their professional lives.

I can't say I would recommend this book to anyone in particular. I like the book in theory, but I think it's a little lacking in depth for older children and a little lacking in interest for younger reader.s.

I have no interest in soccer whatsoever but I do know who Pele is. I usually enjoy biographies about a wide assortment of people no matter their claim to fame as long as the book is about the person, his life, personality, etc. This book didn't succeed in capturing my attention. It started off well enough with young Pele growing up in poverty and showing himself to be an exceptional soccer player. However, once he joined the sport even semi-professionally the book simply became a game by game replay of his life according to soccer. There were sentences and footnotes: oh he got married, oh he cheated on his wife, oh he had a kidney removed. I was totally bored with all the soccer parts which make up 90% of the story. Most recommended for soccer or Pele fans rather than the general biography reader.

A graphic novel about the greatest soccer player of all-time? Yes please! 💯

This fantastic biography which will sure to be popular with an ever-growing number of soccer playing students in my classroom.

A graphic novel biography of Brazilian soccer player, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known by his nickname, Pelé. The graphic novel covers his life as a poor village boy in Brazil who got a love of soccer (and solid training) from his father whose own pro career was cut short by an injury. It then follows his rise to a pro player and national team member for Brazil to his pro years in the US and his years afterward in government and relief aid work.

I went into this knowing nothing about Pelé except that he was a famous soccer player from Brazil. His meteoric rise from street soccer to national team is quite amazing. Like most people, he has his admirable qualities, like his passion for kids and aid work, and his not so admirable qualities, like his weakness for women and unfaithfulness to his wife. This book shows both sides, his moments of brilliance and his faults, applauding the first and bemoaning the latter, but keeps the content appropriate for middle grade readers. The book covers a lot of soccer history and Brazilian history in addition to telling Pelé's story, so I feel like I learned quite a bit from just 140 pages. Soccer is hands down the most popular sport among the students at our school, add to that the fact that this is a graphic novel with attractive illustrations and you’ve got yourselves a bestseller. I can definitely see kids who never usually touch books devouring this. Our school library definitely needs this book, the question is how many copies will I need to order to keep the masses happy.

Notes on content (based on the ARC): Maybe five mild swear words. It is mentioned that Pelé has a weakness for women and fathers some children out of wedlock, but sex is never mentioned and only a kiss is shown. There are clear repercussions for his life style, his wife eventually divorces him and the creators don’t paint this in a positive light. A couple illustrations show guys in the locker room in their underwear, and an incident is mentioned when fans stripped Pelé of his clothes; he is drawn naked BUT has his hands/arms strategically placed so it doesn’t show anything. Only violence is some on the field rough play shown and some events in news mentioned but not shown.

Bringing the amazing story of this Brazilian superstar to a new generation, Pele gives a balanced look at the life of Edson Arantes do Nascimento from childhood to retirement. Pele lived a very interesting life and impressed millions on and off the field.

'Pele' is a very readable, fascinating graphic novel about the life of soccer star Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele). Before reading this book, I knew of Pele by name only, but I knew nothing of his actual life. The graphic novel format of this book makes it very appealing, and it is packed full of facts about Pele. It follows him from a young age, when he was introduced to soccer by his father, throughout his career as a world-famous player.

I requested this book because my school has many young soccer fans, and I thought it might be something that would appeal to them. I am so glad I read it; I will be ordering a copy for our library as soon as it is published.

Even though I have very little knowledge about soccer, I was excited to read this Graphic Novel about Pele. His accomplishments as an athlete and a humanitarian, are so amazing that even someone as soccer-uneducated as me has heard of him!

I thoroughly enjoyed this Graphic novel and learned so much about Pele's life from childhood through adulthood, while picking up some soccer basics. The political climate in Brazil was a driving force in the world of soccer during Pele's career, and impacted his decisions along the way. When adressing the struggles the country was dealing with it was done in a straightforward manner that was very informative.

This is a great read for anyone, especially soccer fans, in middle grades and up.

A quite detailed biography in graphic novel format which provides the reader not just with an overview of the soccer legend's life but also gives insights into Brazil's modern history, its socio-economic and political struggles and challenges, all the way through to 2014. It is of course a special treat for all soccer fans. Dormant readers will especially appreciate the sparse, yet informative text. I am not an expert on Pelé but this biography feels and reads like a very honest account, not leaving out the legend's weaknesses -for example with regards to women. Due to some more mature content, I find the book most suitable for older readers (middle grades up).

The latest graphic novel biography from FirstSecond is Eddy Simon and Vincent Brascaglia's Pelè: The King of Soccer. From his beginnings as a child growing up in poverty in Sao Paulo, Brazil, readers see Pelè - born Edison Arantes do Nascimento, son of a football player whose career ended with an injury - rise from a child using a ball made from rags, to his dominance in youth leagues, and to his first professional soccer contract at the age of 15. He became a sensation at 17, when he led Brazil to victory at the World Cup, and went on to become "O Rei" - The King - a household name, a worldwide sensation. More than just a soccer player, Pelè traveled the world as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. An athlete worth more than face value, the Brazilian government and the military tried to force him to continue playing when he wanted to play for the U.S., and the United States thought that acquiring Pelè would make soccer the next great American sport. He partied with the likes of Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol, and had a turbulent personal life that includes multiple affairs and illegitimate children. Full-color photos of Pelè complete this solid graphic biography of a sports icon.

Great for middle school and up, display and booktalk with other graphic novel biographies, including Box Brown's biography on Andre the Giant, and 21: The Story of Robert Clemente, by Wilfred Santiago.

While I love soccer and grew up playing it, I unfortunately found this book to be rather boring. Pele had a fascinating life, but the writing often didn't have much energy to us. The middle of the book where he was at the height of his career felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again as all the games that he won were gone over. I would have been more interested if it has listed the things he won instead of showing everything. I really liked the style of the illustrations though, and I appreciate it going through his life after his peak. I just didn't find it very interesting and I'm not sure how many people would stick through until the end, unless they idolize Pele.

An exciting and interesting look at one of the greatest soccer players ever.

This is a terrific graphic novel and biography about Pele, the soccer superstar from Brazil. It gives a very nice picture of his life as well as some historical context. The graphic elements really help move the story along and many people will be inspired to find out more about Pele, based on this interesting book.

Well written biography of Pelé that I think will be well received by older soccer loving students. I particularly liked the way in which Brazilian history and developments in soccer rules were woven into the story and appreciated the fact that Brazilian Portuguese was used on a number of times appropriately and in context as it helped the realism of the story.

Pelé: The King of Soccer by Eddy Simon and Vincent Brascaglia is the name I have heard for years because soccer is by far the most popular sport at my school, but I hadn't know much about him until this graphic novel, and I loved learning about the man that many of my students call a hero.

Good book that will get reluctant readers to read who love the sport of soccer but specially Pelé. The book is in a comic form.

I have a lot of students who will be interested in this book. I found it to be a little too wordy on each page, but I think that kids will stick with it because the like Pele so much!

"Pele" will certainly be on my Media Center shelves upon publication. This wonderfully detailed graphic novel traces the life of Pele, considered, perhaps, the greatest soccer player of all times. The colorful illustrations and wording provide great background and will certainly convey the story of his humble beginnings.
Soccer books have become quite popular and this one will especially appeal to many of my students.

Having two young football fans in my house I can say that the design and illustrations were a great choice to engage children into learning more about a legend. The story line echos the life of Pele in an approachable way, telling of the struggles as well as the triumphs. The illustrations are excellent, the story board executed brilliantly to bring personality to Pele and peers as well as the game of football itself.