1.16.2012

She Loved Baseball

The Effa Manley Story

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 
hosted today by The Swimmer Writer
(pub. 10.19.2010)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Audrey Vernick
     and Illustrator:  Don Tate

C haracter: Effa Manley
 
O verview from the jacket flap: 

         "Effa Manley always loved baseball. As a young woman, she would go to Yankee Stadium just to see Babe Ruth's mighty swing. But she never dreamed she would someday own a baseball team. Or be the first—and only—woman ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

         From her childhood in Philadelphia to her groundbreaking role as business manager and owner of the Newark Eagles, Effa Manley always fought for what was right. And she always swung for the fences." 
 
T antalizing taste: 

     "As Effa grew up in Philadelphia in the early 1900s, America grew up too. Bold new music - jazz - blared and folks stepped out in strange new shoes called sneakers... [In] 2006... Suttles and Mackey - and ten other Negro League players - were finally inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Effa would have been so proud.  Something else happened that day - something amazing. Effa was inducted along with them!....  On Effa's gravestone it says: "SHE LOVED BASEBALL.  In 2006, baseball proved it loved her back."

and something more:   The teacher activity guide for She Loved Baseball - The Effa Manley Story posted on Audrey Vernick's website proposes an interesting activity for students:

"Effa grew up in the 1920’s listening to a new kind of music—jazz—
and sneakers were all the rage. If someone were to write a
biography about your life, what kind of music would be mentioned? What
about a fashion trend? Draw an illustration of yourself like the one Don
Tate created of Effa listening to jazz music. In the background, add some of your favorite things that are popular in today’s culture."


What type of music would accompany your biography?  I think I would have different music for different phases of my life. 

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOLIDAY

And, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today, The King Center Imaging Project’s website – www.thekingcenter.org/archive – will go live today.  The King Center Imaging Project is a digitization effort to preserve and make publicly available the tens of thousands of documents from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other key figures and organizations from the Civil Rights Movement housed at The King Center.

On the King Center site, Coretta Scott King writes that "The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We commemorate as well the timeless values he taught us through his example — the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit."


2 comments:

GatheringBooks said...

I've seen this book featured previously by other Nonfiction Monday enthusiasts - and it does look interesting. A female athlete! You don't get many of those. :) Would probably feature this for our March/April theme on Girl power. :) Hopefully we already have this in our library.

Jeanne Walker Harvey said...

Hi Myra, Yes! This would be a great book for the theme on Girl power! Thanks for stopping by.