Written by: Ken Mochizuki
Illustrated by: Dom Lee
Published by: Lee & Low Books, New York, NY
Lexile Measure: AD550L
"I glanced at the guardhouse behind the left field foul line and saw the man in the tower, leaning on the rail with the blinding sun glinting off his sunglasses He was always watching, always staring. It suddenly made me mad."
Summary: In 1942, during World War II, the United States Army moved people of Japanese descent away from the West Coast and into internment camps. This is the story of one such boy. He and his family move from their home first into horse stalls and then into barracks. As the previously busy and hard working people become agitated and restless in their new cramped quarters, his father realizes they need an outlet. Baseball becomes the unifying activity as they work together to create a field. The men build bleachers from wood scraps around the camp. Women sew uniforms from mattress covers. Baseball brings the people together as they "endure injustice and humiliation".
Learning Objectives: This is a short picture book and a good story. This book does not mention Utah, but many Japanese immigrants came to Utah from the West Coast because of the internment camp located near Delta, UT. (Standard 2, Objective 1 a.)
It also introduces several questions for students to think about.
- What do you think about the army placing people in internment camps based solely on their descent?
- Why do you think the Japanese people were agitated?
- moved away from their friends/family/traditions/jobs
- placed in small, cramped quarters
- angry at United States Army
- What purposes did Baseball serve?
- unified them
- gave them something to do
- gave them a physical outlet for their frustration, energy, anger, etc.
- Do you think it was Okay for the Army to imprison the Japanese people or did they make a mistake? Have you ever made a decision that you would like to change later?
- In 1988 the United States admitted that they had made a mistake.
This story can also be used to discuss the History of World War II and Pearl Harbor.
