Brothers at Bat by Audrey Vernick

A trend I really enjoy in children's literature is using the picture-book format to tell the story of an interesting real-life event. Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team tells a story most people don't know. The Acerra family, from New Jersey, had 12 boys, spanning 25 years, (and four girls, too!) In the 1920s and 1930s, before TV and other electronics, baseball was how they spent their spare time. So it only made sense when enough of them were old enough, that they had their own team. That began in 1938. The oldest brother, Anthony, was 32 at the time; the youngest on the team was Freddie, age 13. But there were three more boys waiting to play as soon as they were old enough. They took a break from baseball during World War II, when six of the brothers went to war. All six of the brothers came home, and it wasn't long before the team was ready to play again. And they kept playing until 1952. The Acerra brothers are the longest-playing all-brother baseball team ever. They were honored at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.
This is a neat story about baseball, families, and a time-period from almost 80 years ago. And it is just a fun, little-known story in the history of America's game.
For books that tell other little-known stories, pick up a copy of the bookmark "Picturing History" next time you're at the Library.

AR Level 4.4
AR Points .5