Stars in the Shadows
The Negro League All-Star Game of 1934
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Meet Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and other baseball heroes in this unique radio broadcast reenactment of a legendary All-Star Game, marking a pivotal time in sports history.
1934, Chicago. Come step back in time to witness the best of the best Negro League players take each other on in one of the most fascinating All-Star ballgames in American history.
Using a unique radio broadcast transcript, Coretta Scott King Award Winner Charles R. Smith, Jr. has recreated this momentous event with a lively play-by-play retelling of the second annual Negro League East-West Game. Meet legendary players like Satchel Paige, Turkey Stearness, and Cool Pappa Bell, hang in the stands with the fans, and experience this exhilarating untold, true story—with a lyrical twist.
Stars in the Shadows is a must-have for any baseball aficionado or anyone interested in forgotten history. Beautifully packaged and with incredible black-and-white illustrations by Frank Morrison, this is a rare and extraordinary book.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Writing in snappy rhymed couplets, Smith delivers a play-by-play, inning-by-inning account of the second annual East-West Classic, held in Chicago in 1934, an all-star face-off between the best players from the Negro League. Smith provides a remarkable amount of detail about the game while keeping the action moving and his rhymes tight: "The pitcher kicks up a leg and then lets fly/ strike one down the pip, a fastball letter-high." Diversions from the game come in the form of extended commentary from fans in attendance, as well as commercial breaks ("If your tongue has a taste/ for food from the South,/ Sweet Amelia's Soul Cuisine/ has treats for your mouth"). Working in graphite, Morrison contributes full-bleed and spot illustrations of dynamic, athletic players in motion. Ages 8 12.
