Baseball Saved Us - Hardcover

Ken Mochizuki

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1880000016 ISBN 13: 9781880000014

Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 1993

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Ken Mochizuki is the award-winning author of numerous books for children for LEE & LOW. Mr. Mochizuki lives with his wife in Seattle, Washington, where he lives and teaches and writes children's books and gives presentations about his work full time.

Dom Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, and received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. With his unique style of art combining techniques of painting and scratching details in encaustic wax, Lee has illustrated many award-winning picture books for children for LEE & LOW. He lives with his wife and children in Demarest, New Jersey.

From AudioFile:

The camps where Japanese-Americans were interned during WWII are an ugly piece of American history. Mochizuki provides a glimpse into this period as a young boy and his family are whisked away to a desert camp. For the boy and his camp mates, developing baseball prowess brings a modicum of sanity to the experience and provides a means of relating to schoolmates upon return to post-war America. Mochizuki narrates with gentleness and a depth that comes from intimate understanding. The boy's indignation at camp conditions, as well as his resolve to become a better ball player and his pride in his accomplishments, is clear. Mochizuki's words are made all the more powerful by Dom Lee's scratchboard and ink illustrations. A.R. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Lee & Low Books
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 1880000016
• ISBN 13: 9781880000014
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1
• Illustrator: Dom Lee