Baseball Saved Us- Historical Fiction

Baseball Saved Us
By: Ken Mochiszuiki

Shorty and his family are Japanese Americans living in the United States during World War II. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the family is sent to an interment camp, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans. Shorty and his father decided to build a baseball field, in hopes of raising the spirits of their fellow internees. Shorty is angry at himself for being a mediocre player, and when he sees the guard, he becomes angry at him, too. However, he is able to refocuses his anger into improving his game. Shorty hits the game-winning homerun for his team, and gains the self-respect that he has been searching for. Upon his return home, after the war, Shorty continues to play baseball, while being the subject of racial taunts. However, Shorty is able to overcome this, by again putting his anger into something positive- baseball.

I would use this story as a read aloud, in my future classroom, to supplement history instruction. Before reading, I would provide the students with background information on Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. After reading the story, I would discuss the racism that the Japanese Americans experienced in the United States during and postwar. I would have the students imagine that they were journalists during WWII, and had visited the internment camp that Shorty and his family were living at. They would have to write a newspaper article describing Shorty's game-winning homerun. They would be responsible for describing the camp and baseball field, and for explaining why the teams were playing. The students should also include a picture with their article. When the students had finished, we would soak their articles in tea to make them appear to look old and worn. I would hang the articles outside the room for others to enjoy.