Book cover of Baseball Saved Us

Book description

Best Multicultural Title - Cuffies Award, Publisher's Weekly
Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Editor's Choice, San Francisco Chronicle
Not Just for Children Anymore Selection, Children's Book Council

Twenty-five years ago, Baseball Saved Us changed the picture-book landscape with its honest story of a Japanese American boy in an internment…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Baseball Saved Us as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Baseball fans of today, watching Shohei Ohtani and other players of Japanese heritage, might find it difficult to imagine how during World War Two, thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but that’s the world as it was.

Shorty and his father’s efforts to build a baseball diamond and form a league while imprisoned is the story of determination, overcoming adversity, and gaining self-respect, told simply and heartfully. 

It’s been a few years since I shared this picture book with young readers, but I still remember the questions. A terrific discussion starter about immigration, Japanese culture, how we treat our fellow citizens and so much more, this beautifully-illustrated book made me curious about the internment camps. Like so many good stories, it sent me digging for more.

If you love Baseball Saved Us...

Book cover of Cinderelliot: A Scrumptious Fairytale

Cinderelliot by Mark Ceilley,

A gay retelling of the classic fairy tale--a scrumptious love story featuring ungrateful stepsiblings, a bake-off, and a fairy godfather.

Cinderelliot is stuck at home taking care of his ungrateful stepsister and stepbrother. When Prince Samuel announces a kingdom-wide competition to join the royal staff as his baker, the stepsiblings…

Want books like Baseball Saved Us?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Baseball Saved Us.

Browse books like Baseball Saved Us

Book cover of Mamie on the Mound: A Woman in Baseball's Negro Leagues
Book cover of Soar
Book cover of Al Capone Does My Shirts

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Baseball Saved Us, you might also like...

Book cover of A Foot is Not a Fish!

A Foot is Not a Fish! by Cornelia Maude Spelman,

In a time of alternative facts and the loss of a shared sense of reality, A Foot is Not a Fish playfully illustrates the difference between what is true and what is not through absurd fun comparisons that every child—and parent—will instantly understand.

This book playfully illustrates common truths by…

Book cover of If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility

If I Could Choose a Best Day by Irene Latham,

A fresh, fun, inspiring illustrated poetry collection you can put in the hands of any reader.

Curated by the award-winning duo Irene Latham and Charles Waters, this collection contains 30 poems that all begin with the same word: "if." Subject matter moves from the practical "if you have a pencil"…

5 book lists we think you will like!