Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 08/01/2024 Gr 1–4—From his time as a young boy in Puerto Rico, playing ball with a tin can and a tree branch to a World Series–winning MVP, Roberto Clemente was an extraordinary baseball player. Recruited onto a Major League team at age 19, Clemente was drafted onto the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1954. Despite his skill, however, as a Black man in the 1950s, he faced taunts from spectators and journalists, and prejudicial treatment in hotels and businesses, which separated him from his teammates during training sessions. Over the years, however, he was recognized with multiple awards and accolades. The text is mostly clear and accessible, though some of the language is geared to true baseball fans, e.g., "he ropes a single to center field, driving in a run." The real stars of the book are Gutierrez's incredible illustrations; Clemente's face is rendered realistically while vivid colors, shapes, and lines swirl and swoop across the pages, mimicking the arc of a ball or a path of a base runner. Words relating to the text are included in the mixed-media art, including the title words "Call me Roberto," which was Clemente's plea to not anglicize his name to "Bob," as some wanted. Included are an author's note that describes Clemente's early death at age 38 in a plane crash, a time line, illustrator's note, glossary of Spanish words, photographs, and a selected bibliography. VERDICT An appealing and beautifully illustrated biography, this book deserves a place on all library shelves.—Sue Morgan - Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 06/01/2024 Admiring biographies of the great baseball player and humanitarian for younger readers abound, but here, sports journalist Alonso takes a different angle: “Many Pittsburgh fans love Roberto’s bold style,” she writes, “but not everyone is quick to embrace a Black man from Puerto Rico who speaks Español.” Though she covers on-field highlights up to his three-thousandth hit, it’s Clemente’s insistent identity as a Latin American in the face of jeering references to his accent in the press and efforts to rename him “Bob”—not to mention poor treatment on the road due to Jim Crow laws—that to her (and many Latine ball players since) make him an inspirational figure: “El más valioso.” “Bold style” is a good way to characterize Gutierrez’s illustrations, too, as the sports star swats powerfully, runs bases, and makes catches in sinuous blurs of action or off-the-field poses within intricately interwoven frames and strong, swirling backdrops. Photos, a time line, and a glossary of the occasional Spanish words and phrases join a personal note from the author at the end. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.