BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Nelson, Kadir. 2008. WE ARE THE SHIP: THE STORY OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN: 978-0-7868-0832-8
PLOT SUMMARY:
From the moment the reader opens this book, he or she is swept into the past. The spectacular paintings and colloquial writing/"speaking" style guide the reader through the story of passion for sport contrasted with the ugliness of segregation. A foreword by the incomparable Hank Aaron sets the tone for the work. His words lend legitimacy and a sense of reverence to the book as the reader begins.
We Are The Ship:The Story of Negro League Baseball is laid out in "innings" rather than in chapters and has a game's worth included (9 innings plus extra material in "Extra Innings"). The information is presented in a story form via a nameless narrator who seemingly knew all of the players and was himself a Negro Leaguer. There is a feel to the book of a grandfather sitting surrounded by his family sharing stories of days gone by and a sense of the telling being more than just a story but a moral tale.
The reader learns about the beginnings of baseball among African Americans and is taken along with the narrator on the long journey toward the major leagues. Fascinating stories are told of the origins of the Negro Leagues, the tumult of traveling across a segregated nation, the effects of World War II on baseball, and finally to the excitement of integrated play which ultimately killed the Negro Leagues. The story approach allows the reader to imagine how difficult the long travel on smelly old buses must have been. Vivid descriptions of teams not believing they can play to their fullest potential for fear of offending white opponents and worries about the simple act of finding food to eat or facilities to use because of the color of their skin are powerful.
The glory days of the Negro Leagues is heralded while the clear contrast and comparison with the peers in the major leagues is given throughout the book. The hope of the negro players was to play in the major leagues and to gain that fame and acclaim, yet the pride of their independent league comes through in this book. The narrator makes it clear repeatedly that he believes their players were better than their white counterparts. When times finally began to change and the integration of baseball began, both celebration and sadness came into the Negro Leagues. Joy over breaking into the majors was clear yet this break-through spelled the end of the Negro League.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
The beauty of the illustrations in We The Ship cannot be overstated. Detailed, close-up depictions of players capture the passion of the men as well as the oppression they felt at times reflected in fierce eyes. Perhaps the best adjective for these amazing paintings is pride. Pride in themselves as men and as baseball players. The illustrations are art and truly are the capturing feature in the book despite the engaging stories.
Nelson provides a comprehensive bibliography for his research in the form of End Notes along with an excellent resource for this type of work, a name index. These items along with a clear vision of the author for the book provided in the Author's Note are significant access features. Readers can easily follow-up with more study using the author's provided sources.
REVIEW(S)/AWARDS:
*Sibert Award winner
*Coretta Scott King Award winner
*School Library Journal (starred review): "A lost piece of American history comes to life in Kadir Nelson's elegant and eloquent history (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, 2008) of the Negro Leagues and its gifted baseball players. The history of the Leagues echoes the social and political struggles of black America during the first half of the 20th century." (Tricia Melgaard)
*Booklist (starred review): "If the story is the pitch, though, it’s the artwork that blasts the book into the stands." (Ian Chipman)
CONNECTIONS:
*have students go to Kadir Nelson's website (www.kadirnelson.com) to learn more about the author and see more of his paintings
*have students look up some of the books in Nelson's bibliography, particularly Baseball: An Illustrated History by Ward and Burns
*show portions of the PBS special Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns which inspired Nelson
*read other selected works regarding segregation in the U.S.
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