We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

Nelson, K. (2008). We are the ship: The story of negro league baseball. New York, NY: Jump at the Sun/ Hyperion Books for Children.

This book focuses on how the Negro League came to be with the leadership of Rube Foster. It is also about what its players went through to overcome racial discrimination, segregation, the most deprived playing conditions, and living underpaid.. The characters also experienced defeats on and off the field, they also dealt with bottled up feelings as they were mistreated and yelled at. All of these sacrifices were done for the love of baseball and playing the game. The Major League changed in 1947, Jackie Robinson crossed over becoming the first African American baseball player to play in the league. 

If you liked this book you may enjoy reading the following books in which the characters also overcame segregation and discrimination:

Weatherford, C.B. (2006). Moses: When harriet tubman led her people to freedom. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

One day, Harriet decides to flee and she doesn't tell anyone of her plan. She runs through a swamp and creeps through the woods. She then meets a farmer’s wife who feeds her. At nightfall she climbs into a wagon and leaves her by the woods to continue her journey to freedom. A boatman rows her upriver. When she’s about to give up a couple passing by in a wagon, take her to promise land, Philadelphia, as they also disagree with slavery. Even though she’s free, she misses her family; therefore she saves money and decides to go back south to free her family. She continues going back following God’s call and saves many more slaves and becomes known as the “Moses” of her people.

Grimes, N. (2002). Talkin’ about Bessie: The story of aviator elizabeth coleman. New York, NY: Orchard Books.

Bessie’s goal began when she was working at a fancy nail parlor for men while she lived in Chicago. It was there that her brother made the comment that Negro women would never fly and Bessie got dismayed about the comment and quit her job. She then realized she wanted to be an aviator. Bessie learned to speak French and traveled to Europe to study aviation and develop the skills needed to perform aerobatics. She then became the first African-American aviator pilot and kept pursuing the dream of opening her own aviator school.