Product Description

Whenever the Dodgers play in Brooklyn, Luke goes up to his roof where he can see the lights of Ebbets Field and imagine each play in the game. Someday he wants to hit a homerun like his hero, Jackie Robinson. But the kids on Bedford Avenue won't let him play. "You're just a squirt," they tell him.

When he finally does get to play stickball with the others, he does so badly that he thinks they'll never let him play again. But then his grandma takes him to see Jackie in a real game, and Luke discovers that part of being a hero is never giving up, even when there are two strikes against you and the game seems out of reach.

Rachel Isadora offers up a touching salute to 1950s Brooklyn, baseball, and one of the most inspiring players ever to take the field.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #874080 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3 - Luke wants to join his older brother and his friends in their stickball game but they think he's too small. The boys live in the shadow of Ebbets Field, where the great Jackie Robinson plays for the Brooklyn Dodgers in this summer of 1951. When Luke finally gets a chance to substitute, he strikes out twice. Back home, his grandma encourages him, saying, "Not everyone plays like Jackie Robinson all the time. Not even Jackie Robinson." She takes Luke to a game where he watches his hero, two strikes down, deliver the tie-breaking run. Later, the boy has a vision of the slugger, who speaks to him: "Your grandma was right. You can't give up." In the imaginary scenes, Robinson and his teammates are dramatically set apart in shades of gray, white, and black, while Luke and his surroundings remain vibrantly hued. Isadora's lively watercolors with fluid lines and warm colors elevate this slight story. Luke is winsome and sympathetic, but the tale and its message are predictable and heavy-handed. The inclusion of Robinson will hold some interest for baseball fans, but Gavin Curtis's The Bat Boy & His Violin (S & S, 1998) and Peter Golenbock's Teammates (Harcourt, 1990) are better choices for young readers. - Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
PreS-Gr. 2. Luke has longed to join the stickball games his older brother, Nicky, plays in the streets of their Brooklyn neighborhood, so he's delighted when Nicky and his team reluctantly let him fill in for a missing player. Unfortunately, on his one turn at bat, he strikes out. He feels defeated until Grandma takes him to see the great Jackie Robinson play. After Jackie strikes out twice before hitting a home run, Luke begins to understand that even the greatest players can't always be perfect. A final spread in which Luke imagines a conversation with Robinson may confuse children, and the messages about determination are blatant. Even so, children mastering new skills will easily relate to Luke's frustration when early attempts bring failure, and they'll be comforted, right along with Luke, by supportive Grandma. Isadora paints her African American characters in angled perspectives and shadows that extend the sports action and reassuring emotions. Suggest Angela Johnson's Just Like Josh Gibson (2004) for another nostalgic, bat-and-ball picture book about African American kids finding inspiration and pride in sports heroes. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Luke hits a homerun!
I thought this a homerun book. My family is baseball crazy and we have 4 children. When I bought this book and brought it home there was an explosion in my house.........even though we live in London, baseball is very exciting and we follow it continually. Thank you for such a splendid book and for letting us understand the times in the USA when Jackie Robinson lived.