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  • Just As Good: How Larry Doby Changed America's Game
  • Elizabeth Bush
Crowe, Chris . Just As Good: How Larry Doby Changed America's Game; illus. by Mike Benny. Candlewick, 2012. [32p]. ISBN 978-0-7636-5026-1 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad 5-8 yrs.

It's 1948 and Homer, an African-American boy, is not allowed onto the local Little League team. The coach is unswayed by Homer's argument that Jackie Robinson is now playing for the majors: "'That boy's a fluke.' Coach laughed. 'Ain't no other Negro ballplayer worth a spit!'" That kind of reasoning was about to collapse in the 1948 World Series, when the Cleveland Indians' Larry Doby, the first African American in the American League, would smash a home run in the fourth game to help the Indians best the Boston Braves 2-1 and continue their march to the championship. Homer and his father listen to game four on their new radio, and even Mom is swept into the game by their enthusiasm. When the next day's newspaper comes out, there's a photograph of the Indians' white pitcher, Steve Gromek, jubilantly hugging Doby—an iconic shot that would help "tumble the barriers that had prevented African Americans from playing in the major leagues." Although Satchel Paige would also make his appearance in that World Series, the spotlight here is strictly on Doby and the photograph that would rattle segregationist fans. There's a spirit that recalls Peter Golenbock's Teammates (BCCB 4/90), with its account of the friendship between Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese. However, the effort here is somewhat diluted by the fictional storyline and the distractingly awkward artwork, which focuses less on the play action and more on Homer's family, with their rigid poses, frozen smiles, and eyes that glare disconcertingly off into an indeterminate distance. There is nonetheless considerable appeal here for baseball fans, and kids who think that Jackie Robinson's entry into the majors signaled smooth sailing for his race will think again.

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