Who Got Game?: Baseball: Amazing but True Stories!

by Derrick D. Barnes, John John Bajet (Illustrator)

Overview

Celebrate the unheralded people and stories that helped shape the game of baseball!

Meet unsung pioneers, like John “Bud” Fowler, William Edward White, and brothers Moses Fleetwood Walker and Weld Walker, four African Americans who integrated white teams decades before Jackie Robinson.

Discover unforgettable moments, like the time a 17-year old girl named Jackie Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Marvel at records. Did you know that Japanese superstar Sadaharu Oh has a whopping 113 more career homers than Hank Aaron?

And that’s just for starters! This lively illustrated collection of shiny nuggets of baseball lore will transform you into a superfan who knows the game better than anyone else. Someone who’s got game.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781523507856
Publisher:	Workman Kids
Publication date:	03/17/2020
Series:	Who Got Game?
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	63 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Derrick D. Barnes is from Kansas City, MO. He is the winner of the 2018 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award for outstanding new writer, and his picture book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut took home four honors at the 2018 American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards: the Coretta Scott King Author Honor and Illustrator Honor, the Newbery Honor, and the Caldecott Honor. Derrick is also the author of the New York Times bestselling picture book The King of Kindergarten, the bestselling chapter book series Ruby and the Booker Boys, the middle grade novel We Could Be Brothers, and the YA novel The Making of Dr. Truelove, which was recognized by the ALA as a Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Derrick created the popular blog Raising the Mighty, where he chronicles the experience of bringing up four beautiful black boys in America. He lives in Charlotte, NC, with his wife, Dr. Tinka Barnes, and their four sons, all of whom play sports.

John John Bajet is a designer at Renegade Animation, and works on the Cartoon Network Show Tom & Jerry. He is the illustrator of If We Could Do What Animals Do.

 

Editorial Reviews

A highly recommended first purchase. Readers will be sucked into this unique collection of ‘amazing but true stories’.” — School Library Journal, STARRED

"Inviting for newcomers and eye-opening for longtime fans, this one will have wide appeal in its exploration of the shortcomings and the beauty of America’s favorite pastime.” — Booklist, STARRED

“An ebullient collection of stunning comebacks, awesome athletes, and achievements both grand and dubious.” — Kirkus Reviews

 

From the Publisher

2019-12-18
A fizzy compendium of baseball feats, firsts, and lore from Newbery Honoree and Kirkus Prize winner Barnes (Crown, illustrated by Gordon C. James, 2017).

Although Barnes doesn't really stick to the "unheralded figures and untold stories" he says he'll highlight, still he does tuck some less-heralded hijinks and heroes into an anecdotal rush that captures the "joy and wonderment that is baseball." So, along with tributes to the likes of Satchel Paige and Negro Leagues founder Rube Foster, he tips a cap to Ozzie Vergil, the first Dominican major leaguer; slugger Hank Greenberg, the "Hebrew Hammer"; "Tommy John" surgeon Dr. Frank Jobe; and four African Americans who played professionally before Jackie Robinson. Not to mention a nine-inning, 49-run game and another that went 33 innings. In formal, neatly drawn cartoons, Bajet tones down some of the wilder incidents, giving his subjects—even mascots—dignified presences and, usually, welcoming smiles. Fans budding or confirmed will need to look elsewhere for an organized baseball history or highlights reel, but they will come away feeling as if they'd sat in the bleachers with a true enthusiast who's helped them earn "some idea of how much of a challenge it was for players of color, players from outside the United States, and for women to be part of this beautiful game."

An ebullient collection of stunning comebacks, awesome athletes, and achievements both grand and dubious. (bibliography, glossary) (Nonfiction. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews