We Are the Ship

Kadir Nelson in his We Are the Ship has told the amazing story of the formation of Negro league baseball. His beautiful full page pictures in this oversized book convey the energy and power of these incredibly gifted athletes. These leagues began in the 1920s and continued until the time Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier into the all white major leagues in 1947. The league was founded by team owner Rube Foster, who called together all the owners of the black baseball teams and formed the Negro National League. As the narrator to their legacy, Nelson uses the collective voices of all the players. Because racial discrimination was commonplace, the players endured many hardships to play the game they loved so much. The pay was low, often they couldn't find a place to stay or a restaurant in which to eat, and often slept in their cars, on buses or in tents, while enduring taunts from white fans when they occasionally played white teams. Their demise began when Jackie Robinson was signed to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers and other white owners began to pick the most talented players from their ranks.

This book is an important part of African American history and as such needs to find a place in the school library, appealing to upper elementary and beyond. My dad, who played profession baseball, enjoyed this historical book. He's actually paid homage to these men at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. It is highly recommended for anyone who loves the game of baseball and its history. This book won the 2009 Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor, the 2009 Robert F. Siebert Award, a select title for 2009/10 Texas Bluebonnet Master List, as well as a number of other awards. Kadir Nelson has hit a homerun with this book!