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Booklist - 02/01/2016 Born in 1862, William Hoy loved baseball, but when he tried out for the team at the Ohio School for the Deaf, the coach decided he was too small. Hoy kept practicing, though, and played professionally from 1888 to 1902. It wasn’t easy being deaf in a hearing world. In the batter’s box, he once let three pitches go by and got ready for the fourth when he realized that the pitcher and fans were laughing at him. He hadn’t heard the three strikes called. After working out a system of hand signs, he talked the umpire into using them to signal balls and strikes, safe and out. In an appended informational section, Churnin fills in more details of Hoy’s life and notes that others are also credited with introducing hand signals to baseball. Written for a younger audience than Bill Wise’s Silent Star: The Story of Deaf Major Leaguer William Hoy (2012), this picture book offers a smoothly written text and simplified digital illustrations. A rewarding read-aloud choice for baseball fans. - Copyright 2016 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 02/01/2016 PreS-Gr 3—This picture book biography demonstrates how an extraordinary deaf player from the early days of baseball made a lasting contribution to the game. The ambitions of William Hoy (1862–1961) were clear from the start. The boy thought of little other than baseball and practiced tirelessly in hopes of playing on a team. Achieving his goal brought challenges that he didn't expect, but giving up was not an option. Hoy realized that better communication was needed and knew just the way to do it. While he was not the only person to introduce hand signals to the game, he did popularize their use among players and fans. The book is well told and charmingly illustrated in a semirealistic style that conveys Hoy's emotions. Those who enjoyed Audrey Vernick's Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team (Clarion, 2012) will want to read this engaging biography. VERDICT This is the largely unknown story of a differently abled athlete's valuable addition to the great American pastime.—Paige Mellinger, Gwinnett County Public Libraries, Lillburn, GA - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 04/01/2016 Despite practice and determination, William Hoy did not make it onto the baseball team at the Ohio State School for the Deaf, but the opportunity to play on his local team presented itself when a foul ball came flying his way while he was working and he hurled it back to the men playing baseball. A little lip reading, some pencil and paper communication, and undeniable talent got William a place on that local team, followed by a spot in the minor leagues in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1886. But teammates as well as opponents and fans gave him grief, shielding their lips from view and laughing at mistakes made because he couldn’t hear the ump’s calls on the field. After he convinced an umpire of the advantage of arm signals and hand motions (some based on American Sign Language), everyone seemed to benefit, including the fans, who could now follow the calls well before the era of stadium loudspeakers. This feel-good story is simply told, and it will be fairly easy to follow even for youngsters unfamiliar with baseball. Unfortunately, relying on Tuya’s retro cartoonish artwork to help chart Hoy’s career is another matter. Notes and an appended timeline track Hoy’s moves among teams, but the uniforms depicted at highlight moments don’t always correlate with the correct team, as, for example, when he is shown sliding onto base in the minor league Oshkosh uniform under the lines, “In his first year in the majors, he led the National League in stolen bases.” Children who don’t notice or can overlook these visual inconsistencies will enjoy meeting an old timer worth knowing, and they may even want to work some ASL signaling into their own playground activities. EB - Copyright 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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