Module 6: Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-brother Baseball Team

Summary:
In 1930s America, one minor league baseball team was made up entirely of brothers, the Acerra brothers. A family of sixteen children, the Acerras were a hard-working immigrant family who learned to share and rely on each other at a young age. Vernick retells their playing baseball in the field outside their house and on the baseball diamond in a way that makes it sound like a fanciful story when in actuality the information is verified and retold from information received from interviews and conversations with a couple of the Acerra boys themselves. Making it through graduations, wars, and marriages, the Acerras were the longest playing, all-brother baseball team in history.

Vernick, A. (2012). Brothers at bat: The true story of an amazing all-brother baseball team. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Review: School Library Journal
Here's a fun and true story to start out the baseball season. Vernick relates the history of the Acerra family's 16 children, consisting of 12 boys who formed their own semiprofessional baseball team in Long Branch, NJ, during the 1930s. Their dad was their coach and biggest fan. The team is honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame for being the all-time longest-playing all-brother team in baseball history. The author exhibits good humor by pointing out individual boys' distinguishing characteristics such as Charlie, the slow runner who "hit a ball nearly out of the park, but only made it to second." There is a retro feel to Salerno's illustrations done in black crayon, gouache, watercolor, and pastel, with digital color added. Shades of green, blue, and turquoise augment the outdoor scenes. Readers will laugh out loud as they spot one brother out the bedroom window at night running with toilet paper in hand to their three-seater outhouse. This story sends out positive vibes of a family who sticks together, yet couples the tale with sorrowful times as well. A delight not to miss.

Christolon, B. (2012). Brothers at bat: The true story of an amazing all-brother baseball team. School Library Journal, 58(4), 153.

My Impressions:
Historical fiction takes actual facts and tidbits and fleshes them out into complete stories that could have happened in real life and did actually happen in real life. Brothers at Bat takes what could have been a one-line world record and gives it context and meaning through fictional representations of the events and characters. Vernick added excitement to the reality of the Acerras playing together for so long and Salerno's illustrations bring about a schoolyard, Americana feel that makes the reader feel as if they're outside in the sunshine running, cheering, and playing alongside the Acerras on and off the field.

Library Use:
Brothers at Bat could be used as a fictionalized starting point for discussing America's pasttimes and culture throughout the 20th century. The rules of baseball and political events that took place from the 1930s - 1950s gives more context to the power of sports during that part of America's history. The discussion could continue into news reporting and students could examine events in history and there portrayals in different media outlets and news reports. Students could use online newspaper databases to locate information about singular events and compare the details selected in different primary sources.