Book Review: I Am Jackie Robinson
by Brad Meltzer, Illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
Publication Date: Jan 08, 2015
List Price: $12.99
Format: Hardcover, 50 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Early Reader
ISBN13: 9780803740860
Imprint: Dial Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
Read a Description of I Am Jackie Robinson
Book Reviewed by Kam Williams
An AALBC.com Bestselling Book May/June 2015
Book Reviewed by Kam Williams
“Jackie Robinson learned to be brave when he was very young. He grew up in a time when he was not allowed to socialize or take part in activities because of the color of his skin. He was teased, isolated and bullied.
As a child, he found support in sports, blowing everyone out of the water with his unparalleled athletic talent. Jackie knew that sports were best when everyone, of every color, played together.
When his skills were finally recognized by the Brooklyn Dodgers, he made history as the first, black, major league baseball player. Jackie Robinson broke the racial barrier in sports, and was brave enough to be first.”
— Brad Meltzer on Jackie Robinson
Brad Meltzer was born in Brooklyn, which is where Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color line when he joined for the Dodgers in 1947. But that’s not what inspired the best-selling author to write I Am Jackie Robinson. Rather, the father of a daughter and identical twin boys had grown tired of watching his children admire reality-TV stars and trash-talking pro athletes as if they were true heroes.
These attention-seeking celebrities were
famous, yes. But were they worth emulating and looking up to? No. As Brad
puts it, “I wanted my kids to see real heroes… and real people no
different from themselves.” So, he decided to publish a series of books for
young readers touching upon the real-life childhoods and achievements of
such icons as Dr. Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks and Albert
Einstein.
This colorfully illustrated installment, appropriate for
ages 3 and up, revolves around the coming-of-age of Jackie Roosevelt
Robinson. We see how he felt the sting of racism (in the form of ethnic
taunts) and segregation (exclusion from a “White Only” swimming pool) during
his formative years.
But never becoming embittered, he instead
learned some very important lessons about tolerance and self-control from
his single-mom and his surrogate father figure which would later serve him
well. Jackie proceeds to excel at sports on the road to adulthood and,
ultimately, makes history in the majors.
A worthwhile opus which
drives home the salient point that Jackie’s immortality would’ve been
impossible without a solid foundation borne of hard work, humility and a
cornucopia of other positive character traits.
