Module 12

You Never Heard of Willie Mays

Summary:

Willie Mays loved Joe Dimaggio. He wanted to be him. Growing up in the Deep South was difficult. Willie loved baseball and he was good at it. He made his way to the Negro leagues and then he made it to the Major League. It didn’t come without struggles but it came for him. This book tells the story of a young man that grew up with little to become one of the greatest baseball players in Major League history.

Citation:

Winter, J. (2013). You never heard of Willie Mays. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.

My Thoughts:

Willie Mays grew up with a love of baseball from a young age and a natural ability that had never been seen. I liked the way the book showed how hard he worked and the adversity he faced to live out his dream.  It teaches the reader not to give up on their dreams and to keep going even when hard times come.

REVIEW. First published September 1, 2012 (Booklist).

Winter follows up You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! (2009), a Booklist Top of the List—Youth Nonfiction winner, with an ebullient look at another groundbreaking baseballer. Winter’s squirming-in-his-seat excitement gives this abbreviated bio the feel of a baseball card–wielding kid slapping his forehead in disbelief: “You never heard of Willie Mays?! THE Willie Mays?! Oh, geez, where to begin?” How about here: Mays is a gangly lad in Alabama who idolizes Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, even though blacks aren’t allowed to play in Joe’s league—“craziest rule there ever was.” Mimicking Joe’s techniques, Willie joins the recently integrated New York Giants at 20, lifting the floundering club to new heights before a nation that must finally admit that baseball’s best player is black. Text boxes offer up mind-numbing stats and fearless conclusions (“Yep, they were better,” Winter writes when comparing the Negro League to the pros), but Winter’s forte is describing impossible-to-describe plays: “It was hit too far, too hard, and Willie has his back to it—lookin’ like he might run smack into the WALL!” Meanwhile, Widener’s lumpy, blurry-edged, off-kilter acrylics are perfect for rendering the alternately joyful and fierce Mays as larger than life. The Say Hey Kid had style to spare, and so does this irrepressible book.

— Daniel Kraus

Kraus, D. (2012, September 1). Booklist Review. Retrieved from Booklist Online: http://www.booklistonline.com/You-Never-Heard-of-Willie-Mays-Jonah-Winter/pid=5629186

Activity:

Research Unit