JACKIE’S NINE

Intended as an inspirational book for young people, baseball hall-of-famer Jackie Robinson’s daughter has compiled a series of brief essays and anecdotes illustrating nine values that defined her father’s approach to life: courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment, and excellence. Robinson targets the book not just at African-Americans but at all teenagers, including brief excerpts from the stories of her father, the first African-American player in the major leagues, and also heroes such as Roberto Clemente, Muhammad Ali, and actor Christopher Reeve. She uses the stories of her father’s life as the underlying theme, and expands upon his strivings to illustrate the principles that allowed him and others to overcome life’s serious difficulties. She interweaves struggles from her own life, such as coping with being the child of a famous man and her brother’s and her father’s early deaths. Creator of baseball’s Breaking Barriers program for schoolchildren, Robinson writes only a few of the essays herself. The selections amply illustrate all nine values and also depict another of her father’s strongest traits: love. Each is short enough to hold the attention of reluctant readers, and should appeal to those interested in inspiring nonfiction. (Nonfiction. 12-15)