By James Sturm http://www.cartoonstudies.org/index.php/tag/james-sturm/
& Rich Tommaso http://richtommaso.com/
Published by Jump at the Sun Hyperion, New York, 2007
ISBN 978-078683900-1
Paint, pen ink
**Sophisticated and thought provoking language::
"How do men so small get so large? Who made it so?
You live under their ruling for so long you soon forget who you are"
Annotation
A story told by an ex-baseball player of Satchel Page and the Negro Baseball League and the influence of hope he gave to blacks living under the burden of the Jim Crow south.
Personal Reaction
Satchel Page was one of the most famous pitchers in the league and played baseball well into his 60's. The perspective given in this book is from a cotton farmer who went to play in the Negro League at 18 and only played one game because of an injury he acquired trying to hit Satchel Pages famous pitches. There are two stories running here, one of this farmer and the other of Satchel Pages influence and success. The intimate element of the book is this farmers story. He is living in the south and dealing with horrid segregation and dangerous racism while farming his land and raising his family. His young boy gets beat several times by the neighboring white farmers, until he is unable to run around the town freely, fetch chickens from the neighbor or fish in the river, freedom is completely robbed from his childhood due to fear. However, when they go to see Satchel play in the town for a rare game, the joy is enlivened. Satchel beats the white team, and he does it with an intensity that feels like all the Jim Crow south is being squashed like a bug. This book reels you into that feeling. When the young boy is hopping excitedly down the lane with his father after the game, pretending he is Page, your heart beams right along with them.
**Graphic Novel: nonfiction
African American History
Jim Crow
Segregation
Baseball/Negro American League
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