A quick read, I really liked that this focused as much on Jackie's willingness to explicitly fight back against racism as it did on his sports prowess. It seems like a lot of what's written for kids about well know African Americans from our past is about their willingness to work together and turn the other cheek, but it's really useful and important to see these people as individuals, not martyrs or sanitized figures. Jackie Robinson was remarkable for many reasons, and I learned a lot about the ways that he fought racism aside from his diligent and tireless work on the baseball field. ( )

LOVED reading this book about Jackie Robinson's early life and move into being a big name in baseball. The text of this book is easy to understand and digest for readers of all ages! I plan on using it as a read-aloud resource, along with some other first-person accounts by early baseball players, as a unit in my fifth grade classroom on the intersection of culture and social change. ( )

Excellent look at Jackie Robinson's life, although I was disappointed that it ended kind of abruptly and just gave a summary chapter of the rest of his life; I guess when you get so involved reading about the details of someone's life, you want to keep going at that level, or so that's what I was thinking. But the book is excellent, really gets you into his mindset while never fictionalizing (has thorough source notes and author's note). My other disappointment was that the only photographs are one on the front cover and one on the back! I would have liked to see more of the people in Jackie's life, the places, the clothes they wore, as I'm sure kids would too. ( )

This book was an easy read and for someone like myself who doesn't like to read, I really enjoyed it. The chapters are short and gets the message across and you understand what the author is trying to tell you. The book starts off with telling you about Jackie Robinson's early life. He had many difficulties growing up, and one of the main difficulties was he was African American growing up in the days of segregation. He had to face a lot of challenges growing up. He had to faces challenges from the school, military, and everything in between. That didn't stop Jackie, he never gave up on his goal/ dream. He eventually made it to the Major League. Some interesting facts about Jackie Robinson, in April 15, 1947, Jackie becomes the first black player in Major League Baseball. In 1949, he is named the National League's Most Valuable Player. In 1956, he is traded but decides to retire. He becomes a vocal supporter of the civil rights movement. July 23, 1962, Jackie is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. August 2, 1982, he becomes the first Major League Baseball player to appear on a U.S. postage stamp. April 15, 1997, Jackie Robinson's jersey, 42, is retired from baseball. In conclusion, 42 is not just a number, there was a lot of hard work and dedication to get to where he was. Nothing came easy for him, but he never gave up and look at how much he achieved. I really enjoyed this book, and like President Clinton said, " If Jackie Robinson were here today, he would say we have done a lot of good in the last fifty years, but we could do a lot better." This goes with today's world, we are still to this day struggling with racism. We all need to realize that one race is not better than another race. Maybe one day we will live in a world where everyone sees each other as equal. ( )

Rappaport does an excellent job of describing the obstacles, racism, and hatred that Jackie Robinson overcame as a Black man during the Jim Crow era and particularly in his trailblazing role as the first black man to play in major league baseball. The book does not sugarcoat Robinson's experience, but still presents it in an age appropriate way for a young reader, and ends with the message that while we have made great strides, that we still have a long way to go. ( )