Jackie & Me

by Dan Gutman

Book Overview

With more than 2 million books sold, the Baseball Card Adventures bring the greatest players in history to life!

Like every other kid in his class, Joe Stoshack has to write a report on an African American who's made an important contribution to society. Unlike every other kid in his class, Joe has a special talent: with the help of old baseball cards, he can travel through time. So, for his report, Joe decides to go back...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380800845
• ISBN13: 9780380800841
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Jackie & Me

For my book report I chose to read a book about Jackie Robinson. This book was entitled Jackie & Me, written by Dan Gutman. In this book?s introduction, Joe Stoshack explains that he has a very special talent. When Joe holds a baseball card in his hands he can travel back in time. Later in the book, this talent becomes very useful when Joe has to write a history report on an African-American who made the world a better place. For his report, Joe decides to go back in time to meet Jackie Robinson. He wanted to meet Jackie because he loved sports and knew a great deal about baseball. Joe also wanted to understand what it felt like to be the first black man in professional baseball. Joe leaves Louisville, Kentucky, and is transported back into Jackie?s time. He soon arrives in front of Macy?s in New York, on April 14th, 1947 and finds he has become black. Joe was soon introduced to Jackie. Joe was invited to sleep on Jackie?s couch because Joe helped a good friend of Jackie?s after he had been attacked with a broken bottle. Eventually, Joe is accidentally made a batboy for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson?s team. At first, Joe was nervous and scared that he was a black kid. He was treated badly by the white boys. He soon learned how difficult it was to be a black person, and how badly it feels to be made fun of for being black. Joe soon understands the pain and frustration Jackie felt being a black man among all white team-mates. Jackie was sent threatening letters, called bad names, and treated very rudely and unkindly. Jackie Robinson was brave and strong, he refused to fight back and he refused to quit. The other players didn't want to be Jackie's friend, and they often ignored him altogether. One day, Pee Wee Reese started joking with Jackie. During the baseball game, Reese put his arm around Jackie and the crowd gasped in shock because it was the first time a white player had shown affection for a black player.[...]Joe wrote a very informative and sensitive report about Jackie Robinson. He explained all the discrimination and segregation that Jackie had to endure. Joe learned that Jackie was a talented, dignified, and an honorable ball player, who eventually became well liked, admired, and respected.

Gutman has a winner!

Dan Gutman has discovered a way to engage readers and educate them at the same time. Using time travel by means of a baseball card, he takes his character, Joe, back to significant events in sports history. As Joe interacts with players of other times, the reader learns more than just statistics. In Jackie and Me, we experience the true struggles of Jackie Robinson as he became the first black major league baseball player. This novel would be a wonderful supplemental textbook for students and teachers studying this time in our history. It teaches without preaching.

finally, a book that my son can't put down

This is it! Being a mother and a teacher, I have always wished my son would be more interested in reading. Finally I have found a book that Evan is enjoying so much that I have ordered another book from this series before he has finished this one. Bravo Dan Gutman!Although I haven't read Jackie and me, I feel like I have. My son has been saying quite frequently, "Hey, listen to this." The book presents the unfair treatment of African Americans in a way that involves the reader. Evan has been told many times about slavery, segregation, and civil rights. He understood the information, but,until now I think he felt no empathy for those who were treated so unfairly.If you have a child who enjoys baseball--get this book. Dan Gutman, thank you so much.

A hit!

Following up on his successful Honus & Me, Gutman has brought back time traveling Joe Stoshack. This time, he goes back to 1947 to meet Jackie Robinson-and when he arrives, Joe is an African American kid. Gutman uses this plot technique to show the reader the kinds of prejudice Robinson endured. In turn, Robinson teaches Joe, through example, that no one can make you feel inferior without your permission. The story is simple yet rewarding, a good bet for a reluctant reader who loves baseball or collects sports cards. The continuation of a series that is hitting .400

Great combination of baseball fantasy and history

With Jackie and Me, Dan Gutman has improved upon the idea he started with Honus and Me. Joe Stoshack is still travelling through time via baseball cards, but for this book he experiences one of the great events of the 20th Century: Jackie Robinson breaking the baseball color barrier. Gutman also presents Robinson as a great role model for Joe and real kids like him who have trouble understanding that real strength is often shown through the ability to ignore ignorance, or by confronting it with talent and truth instead of fists.