Bound To Stay Bound

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Booklist - 02/01/2013 In1936, Joe DiMaggio was an untried baseball player. The New York Yankees wanted to sign him, but how could they be sure he’d live up to his hype? Enter Satchel Paige, a world-class pitcher who was unable to play in the big leagues because he was black. A game was arranged between Paige and his team of African Americans and an off-season team of Major Leaguers to see if DiMaggio could hold his own against Paige. This picture book’s account of this little-known incident gets off to a good start but becomes long and windy. In addition, Cooper’s illustrations are watery and thin, though they do capture the game-time rivalry, especially in the expressions on the vet’s and the rookie’s faces. Still, this centers on a fascinating event, one that points up the racial injustice at the time; at the same time, it makes readers care about both players, and may leave kids wanting to learn more about Paige, DiMaggio, the Negro Leagues, and the integration of baseball. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 03/01/2013 Gr 2–4—In 1936, the Yankee's general manager wanted to test a new prospect named Joe DiMaggio. During the era of segregated baseball, Satchel Paige, the best pitcher in the Negro Leagues, was asked to face off against a team of white major leaguers, which included DiMaggio. The author builds suspense with dazzling descriptions of Paige's "wobbly ball" and "windmill wind-up" that even nonbaseball fans will appreciate. Cooper's signature artistic style is grainy in appearance and is more muted than that in Willie and the All-Stars (Philomel, 2008). The brown palette is similar to his art in Heather Lang's Queen of the Track (Boyds Mills, 2012), the action-filled poses are consistently dramatic, and the portraiture is outstanding. Use this memorable title for fans of the game, for Black History month, or for any discussion on segregated life in the United States.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 04/01/2013 The 1936 Yankees weren’t about to sign an untested rookie named Joe DiMaggio without some solid demonstration of his abilities under pressure. They also weren’t about to hire black players, but the Yankees manager wasn’t above asking Satchel Paige to help him test their young prospect. An exhibition game in Oakland California was the scene of the showdown between the seasoned Paige and his “gang of semipro pickup players” and the untried DiMaggio, backed by “a barnstorming team with an impressive lineup of major-league stars.” Skead describes the extra-inning game in workmanlike prose, recounting DiMaggio’s strikeouts, a bad call against the black players, and the final DiMaggio hit that brought in the wining run. This is overall a fairly tame outing, not up to the mark of recent fabulous baseball picture books as Jonah Winter’s takes on Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays (You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!, BCCB 2/09 and You Never Heard of Willie Mays?!, BCCB 2/13); although Floyd Cooper’s grainy, atmospheric illustrations get the job done, the compositions themselves are fairly unimaginative. Still, put the names Paige and DiMaggio into the same title and you’re going to shake up some interest, and Yankees fans will certainly consider this required reading. EB - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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