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Brooklyn Dodgers #3
Keystone Kids
When two young brothers join the Brooklyn Dodgers, one becomes team manager and must battle dissension and prejudice to unite the team and convince the players to accept the new Jewish catcher.
Includes an introduction by Bruce Brooks.
Includes an introduction by Bruce Brooks.
252 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1943
7 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
John R. Tunis
47 books10 followersJohn Roberts Tunis "the 'inventor' of the modern sports story",was an American writer and broadcaster. Known for his juvenile sports novels, Tunis also wrote short stories and non-fiction, including a weekly sports column for the New Yorker magazine. As a commentator Tunis was part of the first trans-Atlantic sports cast and the first broadcast of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament to the United States.
After graduating from Harvard and serving in the Army during World War I, Tunis began his writing career freelancing for American sports magazines while playing tennis in the Rivera. For the next two decades he wrote short stories and articles about sports and education for magazines including Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire.
Tunis' work often protested the increasing professionalization of sports in America. He believed that amateur participation in sports taught values important for good citizenship like perseverance, fair play and equality, and that the emphasis on professional sports was turning America into a country of spectators. His sports books also tackled current social issues such as antisemitism and racial equality.
Though Tunis never considered himself a children's writer, all but one of his twenty-four books were published for juveniles; their success helped create the juvenile fiction book market in the 1940s. Books like Iron Duke (1938), All American (1942) and Keystone Kids (1943) were well received by readers and critics. Iron Duke received the New York Herald Tribune Spring Book Festival Award for best juvenile novel and was named a The Horn Book Magazine Best Book. The Child Study Association of America gave its Golden Scroll Award to Keystone Kids.
In his tribute to the writer, Bernard Hayes said "Tunis has probably made good readers of millions of young people." His success with the juvenile audience helped change the publishing industry. Along with writers like Howard Pease, his books demonstrated to publishers that there was money to be made in targeting books for teenagers. His influence went beyond simply creating a market for young adult books. "In his attempt to link sports with the communities in which they are played, he broached some highly significant issues in the literature written for and about America's youth", according to John S. Simmons in John R. Tunis and the Sports Novels for Adolescents: A Little Ahead of His Time. Tunis never considered himself a writer of boys' books, insisting his stories could be read and enjoyed by adults. He felt that the word "juvenile" was an "odious... product of a merchandising age". Despite his dislike of the term, Tunis' novels helped create and shape the juvenile fiction book market.
After graduating from Harvard and serving in the Army during World War I, Tunis began his writing career freelancing for American sports magazines while playing tennis in the Rivera. For the next two decades he wrote short stories and articles about sports and education for magazines including Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire.
Tunis' work often protested the increasing professionalization of sports in America. He believed that amateur participation in sports taught values important for good citizenship like perseverance, fair play and equality, and that the emphasis on professional sports was turning America into a country of spectators. His sports books also tackled current social issues such as antisemitism and racial equality.
Though Tunis never considered himself a children's writer, all but one of his twenty-four books were published for juveniles; their success helped create the juvenile fiction book market in the 1940s. Books like Iron Duke (1938), All American (1942) and Keystone Kids (1943) were well received by readers and critics. Iron Duke received the New York Herald Tribune Spring Book Festival Award for best juvenile novel and was named a The Horn Book Magazine Best Book. The Child Study Association of America gave its Golden Scroll Award to Keystone Kids.
In his tribute to the writer, Bernard Hayes said "Tunis has probably made good readers of millions of young people." His success with the juvenile audience helped change the publishing industry. Along with writers like Howard Pease, his books demonstrated to publishers that there was money to be made in targeting books for teenagers. His influence went beyond simply creating a market for young adult books. "In his attempt to link sports with the communities in which they are played, he broached some highly significant issues in the literature written for and about America's youth", according to John S. Simmons in John R. Tunis and the Sports Novels for Adolescents: A Little Ahead of His Time. Tunis never considered himself a writer of boys' books, insisting his stories could be read and enjoyed by adults. He felt that the word "juvenile" was an "odious... product of a merchandising age". Despite his dislike of the term, Tunis' novels helped create and shape the juvenile fiction book market.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 6, 2025
I was in the mood for a juvenile book and it’s baseball season – what could fill the bill better than John R. Tunis? Coming out in 1943, this is the third in his series following his fictional version of the Brooklyn Dodgers and maintains the standard of the first two. Tunis the ex-sportswriter definitely knew baseball and there’s a refreshing simplicity to the baseball world of that era, at least in his version.
July 15, 2018
Fun book. Nice sports book.
November 9, 2010
When I was growing up, I read dozens of sports books. My favorite was O'Reilly of Notre Dame. The best author of these type of stories was John R. Tunis. Somehow I missed him, maybe because he wrote mostly about baseball and I was more interested in football. I recently was re-introduced to the genre on the internet and decided to mooch some of Tunis' books and see what I had missed.
If this book is typical of Tunis' stories, I'm sorry I missed them back in the 1940s and 50s when he was writing them. In this book, two brothers, Spike and Bob Russell, a shortstop and a second baseman are called up by the Brooklyn Dodgers in mid-season. They go through the usual rookie hazing and soon become integral to the team's success. So much so that when the team hits a bad slump, Spike is asked to replace the fired manager. On its face this is an unlikely event but it gives Tunis an opportunity to show how teamwork even in a somewhat individual sport like baseball makes the difference between winning and losing.
Tunis goes a step further and introduces prejudice into the mix when the Dodgers call up a Jewish catcher, Jocko Klein. (This book was written in 1943, before people could even imagine that blacks would ever play in the major leagues.) The last third of the book details how Spike tries to get Jocko accepted by the team within the parameters of his world, where even his brother Bob believes all Jews are quitters.
Today the story would seem childish and naive but in 1943 this was a rare effort to help young people see how prejudice hurts everybody and what's necessary to rise above it, all done in a non-preachy way.
As an adult, I would give this book a couple or three stars at most. As a youth in the 40s, I would most likely have given it five stars, up there with O'Reilly. So I settled on four stars. I'm glad I re-visited my youth even if it was only a virtual visit.
If this book is typical of Tunis' stories, I'm sorry I missed them back in the 1940s and 50s when he was writing them. In this book, two brothers, Spike and Bob Russell, a shortstop and a second baseman are called up by the Brooklyn Dodgers in mid-season. They go through the usual rookie hazing and soon become integral to the team's success. So much so that when the team hits a bad slump, Spike is asked to replace the fired manager. On its face this is an unlikely event but it gives Tunis an opportunity to show how teamwork even in a somewhat individual sport like baseball makes the difference between winning and losing.
Tunis goes a step further and introduces prejudice into the mix when the Dodgers call up a Jewish catcher, Jocko Klein. (This book was written in 1943, before people could even imagine that blacks would ever play in the major leagues.) The last third of the book details how Spike tries to get Jocko accepted by the team within the parameters of his world, where even his brother Bob believes all Jews are quitters.
Today the story would seem childish and naive but in 1943 this was a rare effort to help young people see how prejudice hurts everybody and what's necessary to rise above it, all done in a non-preachy way.
As an adult, I would give this book a couple or three stars at most. As a youth in the 40s, I would most likely have given it five stars, up there with O'Reilly. So I settled on four stars. I'm glad I re-visited my youth even if it was only a virtual visit.
July 14, 2023
This book introduces Spike and Bob Russell, brothers, orphans and a superb shortstop/second base combination. The story opens with them toiling in the minor leagues but making a very good impression on their manager Grouchy. With their skills and confidence, the brothers move up to the major leagues and begin playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When they arrive, the team is that in name only, there is no cohesion among the players, and they are mired in the second division, with little hope of rising.
In a move that seems to be one of desperation, the owner of the team elevates the older brother Spike to be a player-manager. Since he is so young, Spike is met with initial skepticism from the veterans, yet it appears that he wins them over.
However, when the Jewish catcher Jocko Klein offends some of the veterans, ethnic hatred flares up and Spike finds it necessary to chastise some of the players, including his brother Bob. Yet, when some fans ride Klein unmercifully, it is Bob that leads the counterattack. Tunis does a very good job in setting the context for battling anti-Semitism using the premise of standing up for a teammate.
This book is yet another demonstration that Tunis was a superb writer of sports fiction. This story grabs your attention in terms of the sports action as well as giving the reader a lesson in social activism. It is also a prequel to another quality Tunis book featuring the Russell brothers, “Rookie of the Year."
In a move that seems to be one of desperation, the owner of the team elevates the older brother Spike to be a player-manager. Since he is so young, Spike is met with initial skepticism from the veterans, yet it appears that he wins them over.
However, when the Jewish catcher Jocko Klein offends some of the veterans, ethnic hatred flares up and Spike finds it necessary to chastise some of the players, including his brother Bob. Yet, when some fans ride Klein unmercifully, it is Bob that leads the counterattack. Tunis does a very good job in setting the context for battling anti-Semitism using the premise of standing up for a teammate.
This book is yet another demonstration that Tunis was a superb writer of sports fiction. This story grabs your attention in terms of the sports action as well as giving the reader a lesson in social activism. It is also a prequel to another quality Tunis book featuring the Russell brothers, “Rookie of the Year."
August 31, 2009
The protagonist of this book is Spike Russell. Spike manages the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers arent doing so well, and Spike struggles to keep them in the league standings. Spike then signs 3 new players to the team which make a big difference. One of the new players is Jewish and his other team mates dont like that. The teams gets worse until Jocko does something which changes the look of the team.
I would recommend this book to who wants to read an interesting book. You dont have to like baseball to enjoy this book, you dont even have to understand baseball.
If i were to rate this book out of ten, i would give it a eight. This is a well written book, which keeps the reader locked in on it.
I would recommend this book to who wants to read an interesting book. You dont have to like baseball to enjoy this book, you dont even have to understand baseball.
If i were to rate this book out of ten, i would give it a eight. This is a well written book, which keeps the reader locked in on it.
October 27, 2009
This is an interesting read. Captures the time period very well. The subplot with the Jewish catcher and the unexpected rise of one character to manager seem somewhat contrived ... but all in all it's not bad.
August 2, 2011
I was surprised to find that I liked this book. Reminded me of when I was a huge Braves fan as an early teen. The writing style is sharp and gritty, cutting right to the core of the thing without ceremony. Excellent stuff!
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April 29, 2013Grad school
January 26, 2016
I liked this book, though it is a good bit dated. The kid that plays well and is picked up by a team--from a small town--can't believe the great big world out there. Some character learning...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews