ROBERTO CLEMENTE

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente dreamed of playing baseball. Too poor for regulation equipment, he hit soup cans with a tree branch. In spite of his obvious talent, throughout his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, newspaper writers questioned his ability and used Latino stereotypes to denigrate him. The sheer brilliance of his play in 1971 and 1972 finally awakened the media to his greatness. Sadly, before he could bask in the adulation, he was killed in a plane crash while flying to aid victims of an earthquake. Winter employs straightforward, powerful language to capture the essence of the man. Each two lines of text are separated by a blank line, giving the appearance and cadence of poetry. Colón enhances the text with a variety of techniques, including mixing black and white and color pages and repeating images from different perspectives. A well-constructed introduction to a compassionate, dignified, multi-talented sports hero. (Picture book/biography. 6-10)