Baseball Saved Us
by By Ken Mochizuki Illustrated By Dom Lee

Difficulty: Easy Reading

Bases loaded two outs and we are losing. If you are a baseball fan and want to follow a boy’s dream to be a good baseball player than read this. This is a historical fiction picture book which is good for grades 1-2.

The story is about a Japanese boy living during World War II who gets sent to an interment camp because the Americans are afraid that the Japanese are a threat. His dad wants to make a baseball field in a wide open field with a hard dirt ground. Everyone in the camp works together to build it, and the main character (boy) becomes a good baseball player. People were making fun of the boy because the boy was Japanese. When the boy first started to play baseball, he had no friends and was made fun of. When he came back from the interment he was a very good player. He made friends but was still made fun of by adults.

The story reminded me of my last little league baseball game of the summer season. It was the bottom of the ninth, the score was 2-1 (they were winning) two outs, Tyler (really fast friend) was on 2nd base and I already had two strikes. “The catcher said one more strike and we win.” I hit the game tying double into deep right center field. Ken Mochizuki was born in Japan and moved to the U.S.A. His family also came from Japan. The author was convinced to write this story because this actually happened to him. He was sent to camps during World War II and he wanted to share his experience with others. By Andrew

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Note: This book is available in our Library.