All Star: How Larry Doby Smashed the Color Barrier in Baseball by Audrey Vernick, Cannaday Chapman
Published by Clarion Books on January 4, 2022
ISBN: 1328482979
Pages: 40
Genres: Biography/Autobiography, Sports
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads

The second person to do something is often forgotten though they face as much tribulation and as many difficulties. Author Audrey Vernick uses this point as the lens through which to tell the story of Larry Doby, the second Black man to be signed by Major League Baseball in the 1940s. Vernick walks the reader through Larry’s childhood as he dreamt of becoming a big-league baseball player at a time when there were NONE. After Jackie Robinson was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians. He faced much of the same backlash and racism and he persisted and while he was the second Black man hired, he still accomplished many firsts. The message of the book is that change can happen, and it can feel slow, and it can be painful, but we all need to be part of it and work for it. The illustrations by Cannaday Chapman have a layered, collage-like quality in a color palette perfectly suited to the time period. One page has Doby heading to bat with a quote about the difficulties he faced in terms of race relations in America and Chapman includes silhouettes of various sharks circling around him; a poetic touch that lifts the illustration to the next level. The inclusion of an author’s note and photograph of a poignant moment mentioned in the book are excellent.

For grades 1-5

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth