Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki. 1993.

Triumphant!

Easy to read text that can be read independently by most first/second graders and Mochizuki's is an important voice in a history that has seldom been captured. Both elements combine for an important book.

On craft: the voice is rather bland, but it’s also not laden with “cultural identity” which in this case makes the boy sound like every other American child. Important to the story, I think, because his "every-kid-ness" highlights the injustice of his interment.