We are the ship: the story of Negro League baseball by Kadir Nelson

Nelson, Kadir.(2008). We are the ship: the story of Negro League baseball. New York: Hyperion Books for Children,

If you are a baseball fan this is a must read for sure! Nelson tells the story through each chapter as an inning, nine in all and the last chapter, “extra innings”. When you are a fan you never really get to see what goes on near the plate, in the dugouts, or even in the locker room or club house. This book talked about the Negro Baseball League. It was inspirational and sad at the same time to hear what the players had to go through. It took years for them to be able to play in the Major Leagues. Due to this, they created their own leagues that contained some famous people in baseball who are now in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame. Jackie Robinson was the first Black baseball player to enter into the major leagues. Others unfortunately, by the time this all came about and segregation was over had died or were too old to play the game. Only 58 out of 200 made it into the major leagues which isn't that many. There were some outstanding guys who were better than some of the players today but because of how they were treated and the time period they never got to live their fullest dream.
The author and illustrator tried to capture the essence and lives of those who had to suffer and be looked down upon because of their color. The book talked about the hardships of being on a traveling team, making little money and being black which brought on battles all by itself. At one point in the story, it said that even though the players offered to pay money for water which was free anyways they were denied. Because of segregation, they weren't allowed to be in the same places as whites and didn't have the same privileges. The story goes onto explain some of the players and how they got their nicknames. I would use this text in the upper grades to teach history and segregation. The text in this book would be a little more difficult for younger readers. Even though it is a very informative book and also very interesting, the words are very small. There are also pages full of text and the text is not spaced out really well which could cause some difficulties for the younger readers. I do think that the students can relate to this book because there is always a time where other students are going to pick on one another. I might try segregation in the classroom for a day and assign groups. Those who are in a certain group wouldn't be allowed to do things. After half a day, we would switch roles. At the end of the day, the students could report on how they felt and we would discuss how that relates to the story as a whole.