Warrior on the Mound

"In a few hours, me and my boys, the Pender County Rangers, Are gonna do something we ought not to.
We'll skip school, sneak over the county line, and take a look at the new baseball field they built for the white boys in New Hanover County. If we stick on the back fields, no one will ever know what we're up to."
Baseball season is the perfect time to introduce younger sports fans to Sandra W. Headen's Warrior on the Mound. It makes the Jim Crow era come alive within the context of a truly engaging sports narrative.
Cato, 12, is Headen's narrator. His now deceased father, Daddy Mo, pitched for a Negro American League, the Kansas City Monarchs. He's determined to follow in his footsteps . His big brother, Isaac, is a member of the team.
When Cato and his crew see the field they are astounded. It looks like a professional diamond. After they split into two teams and play for awhile Cato sweeps the bases clean. But they have been seen trespassing. Luke, owner of the field, drops by the next morning to tell Papa V, Cato's grandfather, that the boys not only trespassed on, but vandalized the field. He demands that Cato and his best friend, Mason spend a morning working in his general store.
Luke says the two teams can have a practice together. But it quickly goes sidewise, devolving into a brawl. And it's only downhill from there as the larger community becomes involved in violence to which law enforcement turns a blind eye.
Young baseball fans will find themselves rooting for Cato and his teammates. If the book is especially effective they'll have lots of questions for the adults in their life. Headen gives not only back story, but a reading list.
On a purrrsonal note, although I don't have the patience to watch a game unless one of my kids is involved, I enjoy playing. Catcher. My best season was one in which I was the only one drinking or smoking pot. I was even hitting home runs. Even though I never attended MIT I played on one of their summer intramural teams. I biked over, eyeballed the teams, and chose one my speed. I started hanging out, commending the players on all their good moves. In a couple of innings I was on the field. I don't intend to play again. Getting hit in the head is so not a good idea and my reaction time sucks.
A great big shout out goes out to the kids playing ball this season.
Jules Hathaway