Module 7/Information Nonfiction/Biography/July 14-July 20
Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
Illustrated by Dom Lee
Mochizuki, K. (1993). Baseball saved us. New York: Lee and Low Books.
Summary
It is during World War II, right after the Pearl Harbor bombing, and Shorty is a young Japanese boy who has just been pulled out of school in the middle of the day to be sent to an internment camp with his parents and brother because the Japanese Americans are thought to be a threat. At the dusty, dirty camp, they are watched by guards in towers with guns. Tensions are high and they are miserable. One day, Shorty's dad decides to build a baseball field to give the camp residents some kind of outlet. Everyone helps...relatives from other places ship in equipment, the women make uniforms out of the mattress material, and the men build the field. Finally it is put together and they begin to play. Shorty has bad memories of team activities because of getting made fun of or not getting chosen to play. However, he participates and puts all of his anger into his hitting: the anger towards the guard who is watching, anger towards being in the camp, and anger towards the war. He hits well the first time, but it is the second time that he hits a home run to win the game that really makes the story. However, even with a happy ending this story overall is very sad.
My Impression
I chose this book because it had to do with baseball and I loved the game. I did not know there would also be a history lesson along with it. I did like that the author used a wonderful storyline to talk about the war and the camps but tie in something positive as well. However, the tone of the book made me sad. I would recommend this book for the story value but not necessarily for enjoyable reading. I also did like how honest the story and characters were. Mochizuki did not hide their anger or sadness.
Reviews and Awards
"These collaborators' prepossessing debut book introduces readers to a significant and often-neglected--for children, at any rate--chapter in U.S. history: the internment of Japanese-Americans during WW II. The nameless narrator and his family inhabit a camp in the parched American desert, where life becomes a bit more bearable after the internees build a baseball field, and the boy gains self-worth by hitting a championship home run. Although Mochizuki's stylish prose evocatively details the harsh injustice of the camps, some may feel the book suffers from uneven pacing. An introduction and much of the text are spent on background, leaving little time devoted to the actual camp regimen. In addition, the ending, in which the hero returns to school after the war and is again saved from prejudice by baseball, seems tacked on. Lee's stirring illustrations were inspired by Ansel Adams's photographs of the Manzanar internment camp. In the muted browns, sepias and golds of the desert, the artist movingly conveys the bleakness of camp life, with its cramped quarters, swirling dust storms and armed guards. The baseball scenes' motion and excitement lend effective contrast; the final illustration stands in particularly moving counterpoint to the earlier rigors. Ages 4-up. (Mar.)"
(1993, Mar. 1). [Review of the book Baseball saved us]. Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved from
http://publishersweekly.com/978-1-880000-01-4.
1993 Parent's Choice Award
American Bookseller Pick of the Lists
San Francisco Chronicle Editor's Choice
Suggestions for Use
*Have a Japanese survivor from World War II come and speak to the children about his/her experience
*Have children go to the park for a "field trip" type day and play a game of baseball
My Impression
I chose this book because it had to do with baseball and I loved the game. I did not know there would also be a history lesson along with it. I did like that the author used a wonderful storyline to talk about the war and the camps but tie in something positive as well. However, the tone of the book made me sad. I would recommend this book for the story value but not necessarily for enjoyable reading. I also did like how honest the story and characters were. Mochizuki did not hide their anger or sadness.
Reviews and Awards
"These collaborators' prepossessing debut book introduces readers to a significant and often-neglected--for children, at any rate--chapter in U.S. history: the internment of Japanese-Americans during WW II. The nameless narrator and his family inhabit a camp in the parched American desert, where life becomes a bit more bearable after the internees build a baseball field, and the boy gains self-worth by hitting a championship home run. Although Mochizuki's stylish prose evocatively details the harsh injustice of the camps, some may feel the book suffers from uneven pacing. An introduction and much of the text are spent on background, leaving little time devoted to the actual camp regimen. In addition, the ending, in which the hero returns to school after the war and is again saved from prejudice by baseball, seems tacked on. Lee's stirring illustrations were inspired by Ansel Adams's photographs of the Manzanar internment camp. In the muted browns, sepias and golds of the desert, the artist movingly conveys the bleakness of camp life, with its cramped quarters, swirling dust storms and armed guards. The baseball scenes' motion and excitement lend effective contrast; the final illustration stands in particularly moving counterpoint to the earlier rigors. Ages 4-up. (Mar.)"
(1993, Mar. 1). [Review of the book Baseball saved us]. Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved from
http://publishersweekly.com/978-1-880000-01-4.
1993 Parent's Choice Award
American Bookseller Pick of the Lists
San Francisco Chronicle Editor's Choice
Suggestions for Use
*Have a Japanese survivor from World War II come and speak to the children about his/her experience
*Have children go to the park for a "field trip" type day and play a game of baseball
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