Book Review: The Bat Boy & His Violin by Gavin Curtis

[Steven at Book Dads]

The Bat Boy & His Violin by Gavin Curtis
Illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award

All Reginald wants to do is play the violin, and get ready for his rehearsal next month in the church basement. But his Papa – the manager of the Dukes, the worst team in the Negro National League – has other ideas. It’s 1948, the year after Jackie Robinson broke the color line, and the Negro National League is about to become a thing of the past as baseball becomes fully integrated. The Dukes have one last season to become a winning team, and Reginald’s Papa needs a bat boy to help him instead of a “fiddle” player. So Reginald goes on the road with his father and the Dukes, who soon discover that Reginald’s violin playing may just be what the team needs after all. Read More