Black Diamond

By: Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick Mckissack Jr.

Review by: Connor

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The opening paragraph grabs the reader’s attention.

·Put reader right into the action

·Make reader imagine the unimaginable (ie. It’s not everyday that a 13 year old girl is accused of murder…)

·Don’t start with “the book I read was…” That’s way too BORING! Hook us into the plot!

Imagine your race was discriminated against for hundreds of years but more importantly discriminated in the sport you love. My book, Black Diamond is all about the black man’s struggle through baseball.

The title and author are worked in naturally

·Don’t say, “My book was The Giver” when you can say, “Jonas, a twelve year old boy and the main character of Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award winning novel The Giver, must make decisions that impact his entire society.”

These black fighters if you will are featured in Patricia C. and Fredrick Jr. McKissack’s true story Black Diamond. In it, they take you on a journey through the lives of several African American baseball players and how they fought for years to have just one chance to fulfill their life long dream of playing in the major leagues.The overall idea and plot are discussed, without giving away the ending

·Keep it short and sweet, even if it’s a long book

·Just give the reader the gist of the book. Be clear, make sense, don’t give away the ending

Blacks were exposed to racism for years, especially in baseball. Black ball players were not allowed to play in the majors so they organized their own leagues. These leagues were criticized by the white newspapers that said they “weren’t a legitimate league.” This book shows how blacks proved that statement to be incorrect.

Describe one exciting incident in detail

·Again, don’t give away the ending

·Be clear enough so that someone who HAS NOT read the book can follow

An exciting event is when they quoted a baseball writer by the name of John B. Holway. He said “If Babe had played all his home games at Griffith field instead off in Yankee Stadium, he’d have hit more like 400 homers instead of 714 and would’ve come nowhere near 60 homers in one year. Though Josh’s new park (Griffith) didn’t entirely stop him, it must have hurt him considerably.” This shows that Josh Gibson referred to as Josh was only partly slowed down by a park that could’ve slowed down the almighty Babe Ruth. That means that there were great hitters in the Negro Leagues too so not making the majors had nothing to do with talent.

End the review with your opinion and recommendation

·Who might like this type of book? (Sports fans? People that love to laugh? History buffs? Late night readers that like to be freaked out?

·What did you think? Is it worth reading? If it won an award, is it worth the hype?

A Sports fan or Historian would fall in love with this book. A sport fan would like all the statistics given and the comparisons made to great white players. A historian would like the fact that this book talks about the cruelness of racism and the mentioning of worthy names that most people haven’t heard. This book was definitely worth reading, because it is a true story about real people and their struggles. It also shows our previous wrong doings and what not to do in the future. I am a huge baseball fan too, so I enjoyed learning about great players.