Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 02/28/2025 Gr 2–5—Short poems and eye-catching illustrations introduce 12 great players from the Negro Leagues. With folksy hyperbole and verses, Smith hails each player's remarkable skills. "Fast as What?" details James "Cool Papa" Bell's tremendous speed: "he could steal two bases on one pitch." Fireworks explode in the sky as Satchel Paige, leg kicked high, winds up to pitch. Smith deems Paige "the Picasso on the hill/ ready to paint strikes/ with finesse and skill." Sketched by hand and digitally painted illustrations capture gravity-defying plays made by infielders "Pop" Lloyd and Ray Dandridge. Close-ups highlight the intensity of Josh Gibson and flamethrower "Smokey" Joe Williams, two of the best—though neither played in the major leagues. A few poems fall short with forced rhymes or trite sentiments, but overall, the verses and art offer a fine introduction and tribute. Back matter adds more facts about each player and an overview of the Negro Leagues. Excellent follow-ups include Smith's previous book Stars in the Shadows: The Negro League All-Star Game of 1934 and Kadir Nelson's We Are the Ship. VERDICT A surefire hit for baseball fans young and old, and a resource for social studies, history, and language arts.—Marilyn Taniguchi - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 05/01/2025 This collection of poems celebrates baseball players who were stars in the Negro leagues, franchises that existed from the 1920s to 1962. The poems include a variety of styles (free verse, acrostic, rhythmic chants, even a couplet) and are brief, energetic, and filled with onomatopoeic words like pop and swat that evoke action and excitement. The illustrations do an especially effective job of capturing motion and movement, elongating players’ limbs or distorting bodies to emphasize the amazing athleticism and physical feats. The rich back matter includes brief biographical sketches of the 12 featured players (including their lifetime stats) and an engaging Q&A about the Negro leagues, including poignant questions like “Were the players just as good as the pros in Major League Baseball?” Updates indicate that every player in the collection is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame (along with 25 colleagues) and that, as of 2024, Negro league statistics are included in official standings, proving that these Black players were some of the best who ever played. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.