We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by: Kadir Nelson

Bibliography:
Nelson, Kadir. 2008. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. New York: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 13978078680832

Plot Summary:

Organized by nine innings and then an extra inning, Kadir Nelson takes us on a journey through Negro League Baseball. The story is told by an anonymous negro leaguer himself. Everything starts when Andrew "Rube" Foster creates the Negro National League in 1920. This was "a different brand of baseball from the majors. Negro baseball was fast! Flashy! Daring!" There was a lot of discrimination faced along the way, but the players loved baseball so much that they endured. The Eastern Colored League and the Negro National League fell aprt during the Great Depression, to be later reorganized by Gus Greenlee. Greenlee also built the first ballpark for a Negro team. The talent in the Negro Leagues was undeniable. However, one never heard about them. "It's a shame the world didn't get to see them play." When World War II came, a lot of the Negro Leaguers were drafted into the service. Toward the end of the war, when the players started coming back, crowds at the games got bigger and bigger. Then came Jackie Robinson. Jackie was the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. Jackie going to the Majors pretty much killed the Negro Leagues. More Major League teams started signing black ballplayers and fans began to desert the Negro Leagues. However, the Negro Leaguers "cleared the way" for many of the greats we watch play today.

Critical Analysis:

This is an exceptionally well-written and illustrated book. Nelson's narrator is personable and easily read. The story is lively and interesting. Although it might be long for some young readers, the beautiful paintings that cover the pages are worth picking the book up for. The organization by innings is clever and the index is full of negro leaguers we might find by name. Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award and the Robert F. Sibert Medal, this is an incredibly well-researched and put together work of nonfiction, especially for first-time author Kadir Nelson. We may not only recognize him now for his remarkable illustrations, but also his talent as a writer.
Review Excerpt(s):

New York Times: "This is the first book [Kadir Nelson] has both illustrated and written, and it's absolutely gorgeous."

Publisher's Weekly: "In his first outing as author as well as illustrator, Nelson (Ellington Was Not a Street) delivers a history of the Negro Leagues in a sumptuous volume that no baseball fan should be without."

School Library Journal: "Social studies teachers and baseball fans of all ages will covet this delightful winner of the 2009 Coretta Scott King author award and illustrator Honor award."

VOYA: "The powerful pictures bring the players right off the pages, including a six-panel fold out of the "First Colored World Series" teams, and will pull readers of all ages back to the book repeatedly."

Connections:

Read Sharon Robinson's Testing the Ice: A True Story about Jackie Robinson illustrated by Kadir Nelson.