COLIN POWELL

This unabashedly hero-worshipping biography of the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff suffers from the very ``larger-than-life'' portrait it creates. Powell is presented as a seemingly invincible figure whose rise to military heights is simply the natural outcome of hard work and perseverance; the problems of a young black man in attaining such heights are thoroughly glossed over. Blue even seems to imply that while other African-Americans have encountered discrimination, Powell did not. While the book offers young readers a source of basic information on this hero of the 90's, it is hardly an essential purchase. B&w and color photos; chronology; index. (Biography. 8-11)