Baseball Saved Us

Mochizuki,K. (1993). Baseball saved us. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc.

Baseball Saved Us is a book about a Japanese-American boy and his family during World War II. They were sent to an internment camp. With nothing else to do, Shorty and the others at the camp begin to build a baseball field within the barbed wire fences that they live in. The game of baseball lets them have some enjoyed and brings people together even if it is only for nine innings at a time.

In a climactic closing scene, the young boy stands up to bat amid the racist jeers of the opposing team, and sees in his mind the accusing guard, standing on the watchtower, watching Japanese-American families play baseball below him. In response to this memory, his courage rises, and instead of wilting in defeat, he rallies to meet the challenge. We see him finally being celebrated by his teammates in jubilant celebration of his winning hit.  He continues to play baseball and is successful in doing so.

I believe this story was very well written. The setting was during World War II. The plot was easy to follow and understand. The writer definitely brings the setting to life with authentic details but at the same time does not overwhelm the story. The illustrations are powerful and play a big part in the telling of Mochizuki's story, which is actually based on his own parents experiences in a Japanese internment camp.

For example he shows what it was like to live during that time and have to go to an internment camp and suddenly leave your home. The characters behave in ways that are believable. The boy acts like a typical boy wanting to play baseball during times of boredom. The conflicts are conceivable especially being those of World War II. The theme is most definitely still relevant for today’s readers. There will always be racism. This is a very important topic to cover with students to teach to accept other cultures and races.

The dust jacket of this book included a great bio of both the author and the illustrator. This was the first picture book for both of them .

I really enjoyed this book. I was first drawn to it because of my love for baseball.  While reading, the story really opened up my eyes to how World War II affected lives of others and what they had to go through during that time. If I were to use this book in the classroom I would definitely use it to talk about racism and World War II. I think it would be a great book for the students to read and I really believe that both boys and girls would enjoy it.

The characters in Baseball Saved Us were taken from their home and sent to live in an internment camp. They had not done anything wrong. They were Japanese Americans who lived on the West Coast at a time when the United States was fighting a war with Japan.

 Big Question:Do you think it was fair for the government to take them from their home and make them move far away? How would you feel if this happened to your family?