Champions on the Bench

by Carole Boston Weatherford, Leonard Jenkins (Illustrator)

In 1955, the Cannon Street YMCA chartered the only African American Little League in South Carolina. That same year, sixty-one all-white teams pulled out of the South Carolina Little League State Tournament so they would not have to play the Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars. This story, inspired by the true events of that time, follows one young ballplayer, Cleveland, through that fateful season. Cleveland dreams of playing baseball like his heroes Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron. He believes he will get that chance when he makes the Cannon Street All-Star team. But things don’t go as planned when Cleveland and his teammates find out they are not allowed to play in the tournament despite their talent and hard work during the season. Yet even in the face of such prejudice, the Cannon Street All-Stars find a way to make their families and coaches proud.

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Baseball

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Carole Boston Weatherford is a children's book author and poet who mines the past for family stories, traditions, and struggles. A number of CAROLE's books tell the stories of African-American historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, Jesse Owens, and Billie Holiday. Other books recount historical events such as the Greensboro Sit-ins and the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. CAROLE's books have received a wide variety of awards, including a Caldecott Honour for “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People To Freedom”.

Reviews

[Kris Dersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a story I knew, or at least knew a little of, but it's well told here with good illustrations and some great photos in the back.
I have to ding the book on a couple of things...first, there's a character of Coach Gibson, which is odd because from my brief research that's not the name of the head coach of the team and if you know anything about the history of Black baseball Gibson is a big name so it's a weird one to just throw out there. She actually names the team members and their coaches in the back and that's not one of the names. Maybe it's intentional or meant to be an homage but I found it strange and it pulled me out. Also, she incorrectly names the all white league that was founded as Dixie Baseball for Boys, which is what the organization is known as now (it shockingly still exists) but wasn't then. And how they became known by the crowd in Pennsylvania isn't stated in the text either. I just wish everything was a little bit clearer because this book tells a really important story but sadly it is not her best.

[wildct2003 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, frustrating story.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book and thought it was a great story. It is about a YMCA team made up of African American boys and their experience with the Little League World Series and racism. Kids will like it because it is about sports and just about any book with sports in that they can relate to pulls them in. It would be a good book to read during a unit on racism and segregation in America's past. Because it is such a heavy topic I would definitely recommend it to upper elementary students.

[Allison]

This is a book that my 5th grade students would take to. It involves a little league team finding success in their sport yet not being allowed to play the championship games due to race. The students could relate to the sport and use the storyline to learn more about segregation. The "Author's Note" explains the true story.

[Literacy Group]

This tells the story of the first Little League in South Carolina for African Americans. A boy name Cleveland is excited that he will now be able to join some of his heroes in the sport.

Grade 1
Heather

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting first person narrative based on a true story of a little league team unable to play due to race. I found the "story behind the story" to actually be more interesting than the narrative.