Jorge Posada

There was a general lack of flow that I couldn't get past in this book. It seemed like a series of moments that didn't really share a narrative thread. I don't know if changing the organization of the pages would have helped, but it seemed like too many ideas were thrown in without enough concern for their order. Each event in the story is described vividly and I was interested, but I couldn't follow from one page to the next. I didn't get the Yankee Stadium part at all. I imagine it was inserted to appease the Yankee fans that are almost undoubtedly the target audience, but it didn't connect to what was happening around it. It seemed like an interruption to the story. I don't think I'd recommend this to my baseball fans unless they were really interested in Jorge Posada or the Yankees.… (mehr)

Summary: This book is about Jorge Posada who played for the Yankees as a catcher. Jorge's Dad is trying to teach him to be a switch hitter, which is to be able to hit on his left or right side. Jorge struggles with this but keeps practicing and never gives up. He doesn't understand at first why his coach and Dad insist that this is so important to learn but soon finds out in an important game against a rival team who is Dad coaches. He ends up learning how to switch hit and it benefits him.

Personal Reaction: I enjoyed reading this book. It describes how important persistence is and how if you want something bad enough you have to work for it. In the book Jorge has a dream to play in the Yankee stadium and he eventually does thanks to his hard work.

Classroom Extension Ideas: This book could be used to introduce many different kinds of sports, different careers, or a lesson on practice.… (mehr)