Buck Leonard

VOYA

These two titles in the new series Baseball Hall of Famers of the Negro Leagues, Buck Leonard by Simone Payment and Satchel Paige by Julie Schmidt, join others that profile Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Monte Irvin, and Judy Johnson. The series chronicles the players' lives from their early years through their time playing for a professional Negro league team and, in some cases, for the major leagues. Each book explains the setup of the Negro leagues and details what life was like for African Americans living during the early 1900s. Anecdotes about the players include Buck Leonard's arrest at age seven for watching a white baseball game through a fence and Satchel Paige's mysterious arm injury that forced him to develop a different way to pitch. The reader discovers why the Negro leagues ended after the integration of the major leagues and what the players did after baseball. The sentences and paragraphs are short, making the reading easy, but the ideas presented are age-appropriate for middle school readers. The photos bring the era to life, showing the players and others who influenced the Negro leagues. Sidebars include information on the history of the Negro leagues, people mentioned in the narratives, fans, statistics, players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and interesting stories about many players. There are addresses, including e-mail addresses, and Web sites for more information. This series will be a valuable addition to school and public collections, appealing to middle or junior high students with an interest in baseball, but also readable for students interested in history or discrimination. Glossary. Index. Photos. Further Reading. Chronology. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P M J(Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2002, Rosen, 112p. PLB
— Cindy Faughnan