June 2007 Book Club Selection
Print/braille edition, $16.95
In contracted braille (Grade 2) with skiplines
Ages 4-8
It's the summer of 1947 and a highly charged baseball season is underway in New York. Jackie Robinson is the new first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers -- and the first black player in Major League Baseball. A young boy shares the excitement of Robinson's rookie season with his deaf father, who sees Robinson's stoic endurance of prejudice on and off the field as a parallel to his own experience. Each day the boy listens eagerly to the Brooklyn Dodgers games on the radio, and then uses sign language to tell his father about the games. His father begins to keep a scrapbook, clipping photos and articles about Jackie. Finally one day the father delivers some big news: they are going to Ebbets Field to watch Jackie play in person!
Though baseball and Jackie Robinson are at the heart of this lovely story, its strength lies in its depiction of the bond between father and son. Author Myron Uhlberg offers a nostalgic look back at 1947, and pays tribute to Jackie Robinson, the legendary athlete and hero who brought a father and son -- and an entire New York community --together for one magical summer.
An affecting tribute to Robinson, to a dedicated son and to a thoughtful, deep-feeling father. And, of course, to baseball.
--Publishers Weekly
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