Title: Baseball Saved Us
Author:Mochizuki, Ken
Illustrator: Lee, Dom
Publisher and Date: Lee and Low Book, Inc., 1993
Genre: Picture book, Multicultural, Historical fiction
Age Range: 1st and up
Summary:
This book is set during WWII in the year 1942; the story takes place in a Japanese American internment camp. The story is told by a young boy who is confused and upset by what is happening to him and his family. He talks about being ostracized and called names after something called Pearl Harbor happened, and then eventually one day he and his family have to move to a new place. This new place is crowded, hot during the day and cold at night, the bathrooms and cabins have no privacy, and the traditional rules of their society no longer apply. He says that this place is a camp, but its not fun “like summer camp”. The young boy’s father decides to build a baseball field to try to reunite their family and others. They plan where the bases should be, irrigate the field, build wooden bleachers, and wear uniforms sown by their mothers. At first the young boy is scared to play baseball because he always strikes out when he bats and he plays second base (supposedly the easiest position on the field). On the day of the big game however, the young boy is up to bat with two strikes. There is a runner on second and the score is 3-2 with two outs. He says he can feel the eyes of everyone on him. He glances up to see the security guard who watches them day and night and he suddenly becomes very angry. He swings with all his might at the third pitch and hits a home run to win the game for his team! The story then skips forward in time to after the war. The Japanese Americans are no longer in interment camps, but he says life is not much better. He is made fun of at school and has no one to ea lunch with. He does however still have baseball to help him fit in. On the day of another big game, he is once again up to bat. He hears someone in the crowd call him a “jap” and he is shocked and upset that people are still doing this. He sees the glare of the sun on the pitchers sunglasses and he is suddenly reminded of the guard form camp. He swings with all his might and he hits another home run!
Response:
Author:Mochizuki, Ken
Illustrator: Lee, Dom
Publisher and Date: Lee and Low Book, Inc., 1993
Genre: Picture book, Multicultural, Historical fiction
Age Range: 1st and up
Summary:
This book is set during WWII in the year 1942; the story takes place in a Japanese American internment camp. The story is told by a young boy who is confused and upset by what is happening to him and his family. He talks about being ostracized and called names after something called Pearl Harbor happened, and then eventually one day he and his family have to move to a new place. This new place is crowded, hot during the day and cold at night, the bathrooms and cabins have no privacy, and the traditional rules of their society no longer apply. He says that this place is a camp, but its not fun “like summer camp”. The young boy’s father decides to build a baseball field to try to reunite their family and others. They plan where the bases should be, irrigate the field, build wooden bleachers, and wear uniforms sown by their mothers. At first the young boy is scared to play baseball because he always strikes out when he bats and he plays second base (supposedly the easiest position on the field). On the day of the big game however, the young boy is up to bat with two strikes. There is a runner on second and the score is 3-2 with two outs. He says he can feel the eyes of everyone on him. He glances up to see the security guard who watches them day and night and he suddenly becomes very angry. He swings with all his might at the third pitch and hits a home run to win the game for his team! The story then skips forward in time to after the war. The Japanese Americans are no longer in interment camps, but he says life is not much better. He is made fun of at school and has no one to ea lunch with. He does however still have baseball to help him fit in. On the day of another big game, he is once again up to bat. He hears someone in the crowd call him a “jap” and he is shocked and upset that people are still doing this. He sees the glare of the sun on the pitchers sunglasses and he is suddenly reminded of the guard form camp. He swings with all his might and he hits another home run!
Response:
I really liked this book! I like that it was told through the eyes of a child; it really helps you get a new perspective on the situation. Children are so vulnerable and I think this book really conveys that. The young boy gets so upset when he is ostracized at school and called a “jap”; he cannot really understand why he is being treated differently than the other children. The explanations were heart wrenching yet simple. A child can understand what is happening to this young boy and his family easily. The illustrations also helped to add emotion to the text. They were done by applying encaustic beeswax on paper, scratching out the images, and then adding oil paint for various colors. The illustrations from the camp are all kind of blurry and brown. I think this is to help the reader picture the conditions that these people were living in, because literally in the desert the wind blew the brown sand all of everything and turned it a shade of brown. After camp however to pictures change to include more colors: green for the grass and blue for the sky. One of my favorite illustrations is on the final page of the book when all of the players form his team are holding him up to celebrate. They have put aside their differences and have united together for an instant because of their love for baseball. This picture gives me hope!
Teaching Ideas:
Baseball Saved Us would be a great book to read to first grade and up. I think children on that level and above can really appreciate what is happening to this young boy and his family. They get a real look inside Japanese American interment camps and the effects it had on the Japanese people. They can understand the racism and prejudice that this young boy suffered and they can feel his hurt as people called him names like “jap.” Students can learn to empathize with this young boy and answer questions like “What would it feel like to move away form home suddenly” “What would it be like to have no privacy?” “What would you do if someone called you a name?” These are all questions that can help children see that these things really happened, and that they happened to children just like them. It would open doors to talk to my students about prejudice, discrimination, and bullying, and what we as a class can do to fix these problems. I believe children can make a difference and I would do my best to inspire my students to do so in my classroom.
Teaching Ideas:
Baseball Saved Us would be a great book to read to first grade and up. I think children on that level and above can really appreciate what is happening to this young boy and his family. They get a real look inside Japanese American interment camps and the effects it had on the Japanese people. They can understand the racism and prejudice that this young boy suffered and they can feel his hurt as people called him names like “jap.” Students can learn to empathize with this young boy and answer questions like “What would it feel like to move away form home suddenly” “What would it be like to have no privacy?” “What would you do if someone called you a name?” These are all questions that can help children see that these things really happened, and that they happened to children just like them. It would open doors to talk to my students about prejudice, discrimination, and bullying, and what we as a class can do to fix these problems. I believe children can make a difference and I would do my best to inspire my students to do so in my classroom.
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