Baseball Saved Us

Modern Age
Baseball Saved Us Author: Mochizuki, Ken Buy at Amazon | BookShop.org Time Period: Modern Age Time Frame: 1942-1945 Geographic Area: North America Country: United States Topics: WWII Genre: Fiction Reading Age: Lower Elementary, Middle Grade Format: Picture Book

World History > Modern Age > WWII

One day my dad looked out at the endless desert and decided then and there to build a baseball field.

Shorty and his family, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans, have been forced to relocate from their homes to a camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Fighting the heat, dust, and freezing cold nights of the desert, Shorty and the others at the camp need something to look forward to, even if only for nine innings. So they build a playing field, and in this unlikely place, a baseball league is formed. Surrounded by barbed-wire fences and guards in towers, Shorty soon finds that he is playing not only to win, but to gain dignity and self-respect as well.

Inspired by actual events, this moving story of hope and courage in a Japanese American internment camp during World War II reveals a long-hidden and ugly part of the American past. This 25th Anniversary Edition features a revised cover and a new introduction from the author and illustrator.

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