I Am Jackie Robinson (BOOK REVIEW)
I
Am Jackie Robinson
by
Brad Meltzer
Illustrated
by Christopher Eliopoulos
Dial
Books / Penguin Young Readers
Hardcover,
$12.99
40
pages
ISBN:
978-0-8037-4086-0
Book
Review by Kam Williams
“Jackie Robinson
learned to be brave when he was very young. He grew up in a time when
he was not allowed to socialize or take part in activities because of
the color of his skin. He was teased, isolated and bullied.
As a child, he found
support in sports, blowing everyone out of the water with his
unparalleled athletic talent. Jackie knew that sports were best when
everyone, of every color, played together.
When his skills were
finally recognized by the Brooklyn Dodgers, he made history as the
first, black, major league baseball player. Jackie Robinson broke the
racial barrier in sports, and was brave enough to be first.”
-- Brad Meltzer on Jackie
Robinson
Brad
Meltzer was born in Brooklyn, which is where Jackie Robinson broke
baseball's color line when he joined for the Dodgers in 1947. But
that's not what inspired the best-selling author to write I Am Jackie
Robinson. Rather, the father of a daughter and identical twin boys
had grown tired of watching his children admire reality-TV stars and
trash-talking pro athletes as if they were true heroes.
These
attention-seeking celebrities were famous, yes. But were they worth
emulating and looking up to? No. As Brad puts it, “I wanted my kids
to see real heroes... and real people no different from themselves.”
So, he decided to publish a series of books for young readers
touching upon the real-life childhoods and achievements of such icons
as Dr. Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks and Albert
Einstein.
This
colorfully illustrated installment, appropriate for ages 3 and up,
revolves around the coming-of-age of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson. We
see how he felt the sting of racism (in the form of ethnic taunts)
and segregation (exclusion from a “White Only” swimming pool)
during his formative years.
But
never becoming embittered, he instead learned some very important
lessons about tolerance and self-control from his single-mom and his
surrogate father figure which would later serve him well. Jackie
proceeds to excel at sports on the road to adulthood and, ultimately,
makes history in the majors.
A
worthwhile opus which drives home the salient point that Jackie's
immortality would've been impossible without a solid foundation borne
of hard work, humility and a cornucopia of other positive character
traits..
To
order a copy of I Am Jackie Robinson, visit:
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