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Please forgive my rambling for a bit.  Let me start off by saying that I know NOTHING about baseball.  My only experience with the sport is when I lived in Chicago I went to a Sox game once and when I was in my early twenties I was playing a game of softball (not baseball I know – but close enough for this story) with friends and got hit in the face with a hard line drive.  I broke my cheekbone in multiple places really bad and had to have reconstructive surgery.  I’ve got a metal plate in there and everything.  In fact, I still have nerve damage to the top of my left lip which often reminds me of the injury.  For weeks, you could see the stitching from the ball imprinted in my skin – that is if you could see past my swollen face and blood shot eye.

So while I was reading We Are the Ship, The Story of the Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson and it kept talking about how fast these guys could pitch and hit – I kept wanting to wince.  It’s no fun to get hit.  I have to admire these athletes for even getting out on that field.  Me?  I am now officially scared of any ball which may potentially break all the bones in my face.

But as I was saying, I don’t follow baseball nor do I know its history or its present.  So reading We Are the Ship was literally my first history lesson of any sort of the sport.  So Natasha, you may ask, why read about baseball if you’re not that interested in it?  Let me tell you.  Kadir Nelson can illustrate the back of a cereal box and I would be all over it.  His artwork is simply brilliant and I’ll read anything that has his name attached to it.  Plus, teasing my husband is kind of fun too. If I mention Nelson’s name, my husband always says, “Oh yeah, that guy that you think is really good looking.”   I know I’m not alone in this sentiment.  Kadir Nelson is one good looking guy.   He’s also incredibly soft-spoken and gracious which makes him even more appealing.

Plus, he can paint.  Wow, can he paint.  The talent just oozes from him.  I am always blown away with his books and We Are the Ship was no exception.

This is a book that I was in awe of.  Turning each page to discover the next illustration was a treat in and of itself.  Kadir Nelson presents the portraits of Rube Foster, John Henry “Pop” Lloyd, Jackie Robinson, Oscar Charleston, Willie Foster, Andy Cooper, Wilber “Bullet” Rogan, Josh Gibson, William Julius “Judy” Johnson, Raleigh “Biz” Mackey, Leroy “Satchel” Paige, Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, Willard Brown, Hilton Smith, Buck Leonard, James “Cool Papa” Bell and many more.  These are strong illustrations and one doesn’t doubt the strength or determination of these players.

In nine chapters, or better called, nine innings, our narrator who seems to have his eyes on every aspect of the sport and in what feels like a reminiscing by the fireplace takes the reader through the beginnings of the Negro Baseball League to its eventual desegregation with the crossover of Jackie Robinson to the minor leagues.

Let me tell you.  Reading about the history of baseball?  Fascinating!  These men were simply amazing and one can only leave the book with a new-found appreciation for these men who did so much for the history of baseball and paved the way for many athletes who would come after them.

I loved how the story was narrated and wanted to share Kadir Nelson’s thoughts on this in the author’s note:

I have attempted in earnest to present these men (and one woman) in all their dignity, pride and spiritual strength. They are my heroes.

[. . . ] Where these was no way, they made a way. I admire this independent spirit.

In keeping with this spirit, I chose to present the voice of the narrator as a collective voice, the voice of every player, the voice of we.  Under the leadership of Rube Foster, who declared the leagues’ independence from major league baseball by saying, “We are the ship; all else the sea,” the owners and players formed and sustained a successful league, demonstrating the power of the collective.  And after reading interviews and listening to former players speak about their lives in baseball, it became clear that hearing the story of Negro League baseball directly from those who experienced it firsthand made it more real, more accessible.  I hope that the way I have chosen to present the story has the same effect.

He later says,

I hope that I have done justice to these somewhat forgotten men and given them the tribute that they deserve.  I have tried to honor them, to portray them as the heroes they were, and to further solidify their place in history.  I hope that the reader will agree.

Yes, I completely agree.   This is not just a picture book.  It’s so much more than that.  It’s special and if you have been fortunate to read this book as well, then you know what I’m talking about.

Links of interest:  Kadir Nelson website, more book blogger reviews. Also illustrated by Kadir Nelson and reviewed by Maw Books: Moses, When Harriett Tubman Led Her People to Freedom and Henry’s Freedom Box, A True Story from the Underground Railroad.
We Are the Ship is part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month.  Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.
Genre: Non-fiction Picture Book, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Hyperion Books.  January 8, 2008.
Hardcover, 96 pages. ISBN 0786808322
Source Copy:  Own
We Are the Ship is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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