CLIP Review: Baseball Saved Us

Author:  Ken Mochizuki
Illustrator:  Dom Lee
Grades 1-3

This story took place during WWII. It is not a happy, feel good story, but it is a story which needed to be shared. The author's note explained that our government moved people of Japanese descent to internment camps from 1942-1945, not knowing who might be loyal to Japan.  Conditions in the camps were rough and fights broke out. "That's when Dad knew we needed baseball." 


The guards in the towers watched as the men and kids transformed the space between barracks into a baseball field. The moms took covers off mattresses and sewed them into uniforms. Soon there were games all the time. The boy in the story was small, and often teased for not being a good player. "Easy out," the other team would call. The guards watched and stared at him. Will his determination and practice pay off? And after the war, when they return home, what will it be like on the baseball team at school?  


Maybe I was wrong...perhaps there is a bit of feel good to this story. I suppose all of us have been left out at times, but we did it, just like this little guy  - he swung and he hit!