Module 11 - Baseball Saved Us

Summary

This book is about a young boy who is forced to go to a Japanese internment camp in the middle of the desert during World War II.  After noticing the toll being in the camp was taking on the people, the boys father decides to build a baseball field.  The little boy, who had always been picked last for being the smallest, is excited to play baseball.  While playing at the camp, he improves and eventually amazes his team, the opposing team and the spectators at the championship game.  After returning home from the camp, the boy is an outsider due to his race.  Through baseball, he is, again, able to cope and to eventually find friends.

Bibliography

Mochizuki, K. (1993). Baseball saved us.  New York, NY:  Lee & Low Books Inc.

My Impression

I really liked this picture book.  It was moving portrayal of a group of oppressed individuals finding a way to cope with a bad situation.  Instead of losing all hope, the people of the camp use baseball as a way to save themselves from hopelessness.  I also like the fact that it was about a subject that many kids know very little about, as it is not generally addressed in history classes.  The artwork really fit the mood of the book.  The predominate use of organge mimicks the desert that defines this portion of the narrator's life.  Everything is shades of the same oranges until they begin playing baseball when, figuratively speaking, some color begins to reenter the lives of those in the internment camp.

To Read or Not to Read:  If you have elementary aged children, read it.  It will be worth your time and their time.

Professional Reviews

Kirkus Reviews
"Drawing on his Japanese-American parents' experiences, a new author uses his narrator's struggle to become a better, and more accepted, ballplayer to portray a WW II internment camp. Quietly, ``Shorty'' describes his family's sudden removal to the camp in 1942, the grim surroundings, the restiveness his dad hopes to counter by building a baseball diamond. Materials are improvised (uniforms are made from mattress ticking), but the game soon thrives. Still, Shorty is usually an ``easy out'' until anger at the perpetually watching guard inspires him to hit a homer-- whereupon he sees the guard give him thumbs-up and a grin. But the real focus here is the camp and the prejudice that caused it. Back home after the war, Shorty finds friendly teammates but still hears racist taunts when he plays--and still uses the anger he feels to strengthen his resolve and do his best. Using scratchboard overlaid with oils, Lee (who grew up in Korea) provides splendidly evocative art whose somber tones are enriched with luminous color; he's a keen observer of baseball and the camp milieu. Fine debuts for author, illustrator, and publisher."
[Review of the book Baseball saved us, by K. Mochizuki]. (1993, March 1).  Kirkus Reviews.  Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com.

Library Uses

• This book could be used for storytime, leading into a discussion of descrimination.
• The library could create an informational display about Japanese internement camps.  Through the use of writings, images and other artifacts, the library could share information about an aspect of American history that very few people know anything about.

Image retrieved from:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baseball-saved-us-ken-mochizuki/1102423807?ean=9781880000199