Ken Mochizuki is a writer, journalist, and former actor who made his picture-book debut with Baseball Saved Us. He is also the author of several other award-winning picture books published by Lee & Low, including Passage to Freedom and Heroes. Mochizuki lives in Maple Valley, Washington. His website is kenmochizuki.com.
Dom Lee made his picture-book debut with Baseball Saved Us. He grew up in Seoul, South Korea, and went on to illustrate books in both the United States and Korea. His titles for Lee & Low include Ken Mochizuki's Passage to Freedom and Heroes, as well as the award-winning Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds. Lee's unique illustration style involves applying encaustic beeswax on paper, then scratching out images, and finally coloring the images with oil paint. Lee and his wife live in Hollis, New York.
"Author Ken Mochizuki and artist Dom Lee tell a terrific children's story. They tell a modern one - tender and tough and most of all: true." -- The Asian Reporter "Prepossessing debut. . .stirring illustrations." -- Publishers Weekly "Splendidly evocative. . .. Fine debuts for author, illustrator." -- Kirkus Reviews "Powerful." -- School Library JournalCCBC Choices - Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Gr 2-4-- After briefly describing the way his family was removed from their home and sent to an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II, the narrator, ``Shorty,'' tells how baseball was used as a diversion from the dire situation in which the camp's inhabitants found themselves. After improvising a baseball diamond, uniforms, and equipment, they played games. In one of these contests, the usually weak-hitting Shorty catches a glimpse of one of the ever-present guards and channels his anger toward the man into his swing, resulting in a winning home run. After the war and his return home, he continues to play ball while at the same time being subjected to racial taunts, again refocusing his anger to produce positive results on the diamond. The sport plays a secondary role to the blatant racism depicted in this somber book. The paintings, scratchboard overlaid with oils, effectively reflect the tone of the story. Pair this powerful title with Hamanaka's The Journey (Orchard, 1990). --Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
"Author Ken Mochizuki and artist Dom Lee tell a terrific children's story. They tell a modern one - tender and tough and most of all: true." -- Asian Reporter
"Prepossessing debut. . .stirring illustrations." -- Publishers Weekly
"Splendidly evocative. . .. Fine debuts for author, illustrator." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Powerful." -- School Library JournalCuffies Award - Best
Multicultural Title, Publishers Weekly
Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Not Just for Children Anymore Selection, Children's Book
CouncilEditor's Choice, San Francisco Chronicle
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