I thought alot about the diffrentince between black and white. It also taught history.

This book is a great book. If you like a bit of baseball, a bit about Judaism, learning about racism, and friendship, then this book is for you. This is about a boy named Joey who is trying to enjoy life where he is the minority in a place with a lot of white people. Some people tease him (even adults), others bully him, and some are his friends. He learns about his Jewish heritage and that his family will always be there for him, even if he didn't know them. Enjoy your reading. :)

Reviewed by Hannah, age 9, IL It’s New York in 1947 and Joey Sexton was frantic. Joey had never met his father and now his mother is dead. He got called by Miss MacNeill of the Orphans’ Services for the Borough of the Bronx. He wanted to stay with old Miss Webster. Now he would have to live with his girl cousin, Aunt and Zayde who his mother had never mentioned. What if his Zayde didn’t like him? What if his cousin was a girly girl? What if people called him bad black names? He had so many questions. One question really worried him: how would he, as a Yankees fan, live in Dodgers' territory? It was true that he was in awe of Jackie Robinson, but how could Joey survive the clothes, hats, signs and cheering from all the Dodgers fans? Moving to the Bronx makes Joey feel scared and insecure for so many reasons. All Joey wants is a place to call home. Joey is a nine year old boy who is great at baseball. He is partially black and partially white. Joey is easily angered if someone calls him a name. Some people call him “white bread” and some call him “nigger”. He often gets in fights with people of the opposite color. The fights often happen around baseball. People exclude him because he isn’t the same color that they are. But throughout the book Joey awes people with his own baseball skills. By the end of the book many things change in Joey’s life. His enemies learn to accept him and it is baseball that brings them together. Joey also learns how to manage his anger without hurting anybody. In addition, he and his Zayde build a strong relationship and Joey is happy that he has found his home. I think that Ellen Schwartz did a great job explaining the struggles blacks had during the civil rights movement. One of the struggles is how the majority of blacks were not accepted by the whites. Another struggle is that white people often called black people mean and horrible names. I recommend this book to baseball fans and people interested in Civil Rights.