Back in TimetDo you wish that you can travel back in time and meet the person you admire most? Joe Stoshack, a young man from the novel Jackie and Me written by Dan Gutman, was able to do so. Joe has the incredible gift to travel back in time by holding any baseball card to his chest. In this novel, Gutman describes Joe as a kid who loves the game of baseball and is always interested and eager to learn more about his favorite players of all time. This novel is definitely recommended for readers interested in exciting stories of sports; however it also contains many meaningful and relatable moments. tThis novel reaches out to the reader and emphasizes the importance and significance of having a true passion. Joe’s passion is baseball. He frequently plays in a little league and is always talking about baseball with his friends. This passion of his leads him to the uncovering of the history of an iconic baseball figure, Jackie Robinson. “I want to go back in time and ask Jackie Robinson how he felt,” is what Joe said when pondering how life was for one of the best baseball players of all time (42). Fortunately for him, his special gift allowed him to travel back in time and meet with Jackie Robinson. Anybody with a passion of any kind can relate to the satisfying feeling when pursuing that passion of theirs. This story shows that following your passion can ultimately lead to true happiness. In Joe’s case, he found happiness when he uncovered the truth about Jackie Robinson. When he found that Jackie had to overcome many obstacles in order to the break the color barrier present at the time, this understanding provided him with personal fulfillment due to his further understanding of the sport of baseball.tThis novel would also appeal to readers interested in the sport of baseball. This novel provides a lot of background information on the sport and incorporates the history and development of baseball in Joe’s adventure. This novel supplies individuals with all the rules of baseball; it would allow one to play the game given the knowledge from this book. “Three strikes and you’re out!” is what the umpire yelled at Joe after he swung and missed on his third opportunity to hit the ball (72). Baseball fans and players alike can relate to the suspense and excitement of stepping up to the plate, staring the pitcher in the eye, and waiting for that perfect pitch to knock the ball clear into the parking lot. Also the history of Jackie Robinson gives the reader unexpected information on his career statistics and how baseball was played back in the 1940’s. This can be appreciated by one who is fascinated by the sport and seeks further knowledge of the sport.tAlthough this novel provides much information about baseball and gives many important life lessons, this novel can become boring at times. For example, the novel contains many moments of long one-on-one conversation between Joe and Jackie. “Who are your siblings?” is what Joe asked Jackie while sitting on the couch and drinking milk (112). Although this background information can be interesting to the reader, this conversation contains no suspense or action which may be desired by a baseball fan. A reader interested in the playing of baseball games would not like to hear small talk such as this. Furthermore, one may not be interested in Jackie’s brothers or sisters, just his relation to the sport of baseball. Perhaps less conversation and more action can be appreciated by the reader. tOverall, this novel can be enjoyed by many. It is highly recommended for fans baseball or Jackie Robinson, but it can also be appreciated by those seeking a good read with interesting fictional qualities. Those who enjoy exciting or entertaining books would enjoy this novel as it contains many suspenseful moments. It also educates the reader about the sport and development of baseball. Even those who are not fans of great amounts of detail, this book can still be enjoyed due to the many interesting facts presented.
cc:Like every other kid in his class, Joe Stoscack has to write a report on an African American who's made an important contribution to society. Unlike every other kid in his class, Joe has a special talent: with the help of old baseball cards, he can travel through time. So for his report, Joe decides to go back to meet one of the greatest baseball players ever, Jackie Robinson, to find out what it was like to be the man who broke baseball's color barrier. Joe plans on writing a prize-winning report. But he doesn't plan on a trip that will for a short time change the color of his skin -- and forever change his view of history and his definition of 01-02 Golden Sower Award Masterlist (YA Cat.) and 00 Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Book Award (Intermed. Cat.)Like every other kid in his class, Joe Stoshack has to write a report on an African American who's made an important contribution to society. Unlike every other kid in his class, Joe has a special talent: with the help of old baseball cards, he can travel through time. So for his report, Joe decides to go back to meet one of the greatest baseball players ever, Jackie Robinson, to find out what it was like to be the man who broke baseball's color barrier. Joe plans on writing a prize-winning report. But he doesn't plan on a trip that will for a short time change the color of his skin--and forever change his view of history and his definition of courage.by Dan Gutman
What do You think about Jackie & Me (2000)?
This is an interesting concept for a novel. The execution of the text contains some painful problems. The novel takes the reader back in time to view American history as it is happening. There is no guess work for young readers, you follow a character as the events are taking place. In this case, we follow Jack Robinson through his debut in the major leagues, Pee Wee Reese's famous "he's with me" gesture and the main character, Joe, also goes back in time to watch Jack become accepted by his whi
—Patrick
Jackie and Me was a very good book. Especially if you are a baseball lover. The book Jackie and Me is a series that contains stories that are first starting in the future, but then as it goes towards the middle the character needs to travel back in time to find out questions he has had or things he needs for school, but to make it more interesting he travels back in time. Joe is a kid that travels through time. In this book he travels back in time because his social studies teacher assigned an assignment on an African American that changed society in some sort of way. Joe picked Jackie Robinson which he liked because he was a baseball player and had some questions about him, so he decided to go back in time and him the questions personally. When Joe arrived to the past 1947 he had changed to an African American when he was originally an American, but didn't notice until he was being discriminated by an American. After Joe met Jackie Robinson and got his questions answered he got an autograph by Babe Ruth which his father has always admired. When Joe came back to the future, his dad was mad at him because he didn't get the baseball cards he wanted, but Joe knew his dad admired Babe Ruth and that is when Joe gave his dad the autograph. Overall, in my perspective, I think Jackie and me was a very good book. I thought that because it the book is very interesting when the character goes back in time lands in the right year but not at the right place which makes it interesting because the character has to find the place and the person he needs.
—Stephanie Gamez
In the novel A Baseball Card Adventure: Jackie and Me, young Joe Stoshack had to write a report on an African American who's made an important contribution to society. Joe, however, has a special gift, where he can travel through time just by holding a card and thinking of where or when he wishes to travel. That's what made the book entertaining. I enjoy the historical fiction genre and I felt as if I was back in the 1940's to see what it was like. The author, Dan Gutman also gave me some information and a different point of view of history. I also learned some important facts from this book from a not so great or equal time period of our nations history. The book gave me a better understanding and appreciation of Jackie Robinson's life.
—Kyle Gonzales
