Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team

I'm not a sports girl. I know nothing about football despite the fact that I have lived my entire life here in Texas where football is the national sport.

Why then, you might ask, do you love not one but two Cybils nominees that are sports stories?

It's the power of the story. This story is every baseball dad's dream: a baseball team composed of twelve brothers. That's enough boys to populate the whole field with three left on the bench. And not only did this team of brothers play together, but they played together nicely.

You just can't help but being captivated by the little stories about all the brothers, as they form their own semi-pro team and draw crowds, as they disband for the duration of the war and fight for their country, as show more they return home from war safely and once again do what they do best, play ball. show less

I can't explain why, but this picture book got me so emotional as I was reading it, even though nothing terribly tear-jerking happens in it. As you read the story of the Acerras, an all-brother baseball team from the forties and fifties, you feel bonded to the characters and family as if you are there experiencing events with them. This book will open up many questions for young readers, such as why children would sleep in the same bed, or why it was so amazing that all six brothers who went to war returned safely. I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to others.

Very enjoyable treatment of the true story of the Acerra brothers and their baseball team. The illustrations are very evocative of that era (1920s-1940s) and the prose sets the tone of family lore.

Brothers at Bat is a very relatable story for children who come from extremely large families. This book is based on a true story about the Acerra family that consisted of twelve boys who had a passion for baseball. As they grew up, they developed an all brother team that traveled along the East Coast to play against other teams. In the 1940's half of the team set out to serve in the Second World War. Luckily they all returned safely. Soon the family was back on the field. The Acerra brother's made it into the Hall of Fame for being the longest-playing all-brother team ever.
Even though this book was based in the 1920s-1950s, children may still be able to make connections. When growing up in a house with multiple siblings, they find show more things they like to play/ bond over with each other. Older siblings teach younger siblings how to do things. Such as the older Acerra brothers taught the younger ones to play.
The main message this book gives is that, family can help you through anything. With injuries, the brothers helped each other get back on to the field and continue with baseball. During war, they supported and helped each other throughout the time spent there. When all the brothers were grown up, they then helped their children develop a love for the game. show less

A feel-good story about the American pastime and a fantastic family of brothers who formed their own team. The rich, retro illustrations in bold colors are right up my alley.

The Acerra family had sixteen children, including twelve ball-playing boys. It was the
1930s, and many families had lots of kids. But only one had enough to field a baseball
team . . . with three on the bench! The Acerras were the longest-playing all-brother
team in baseball history. They loved the game, but more important, they cared for
and supported each other and stayed together as a team. Nothing life threw their way
could stop them.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked this book because of the characters and illustrations. I liked how detailed the author went when describing the nine brothers. For example, the author did not just state the position of the player but also how old he is and a fun fact. My favorite player is Jimmy because I can also relate to nobody catching any baseballs that I throw! I also liked the author’s illustrations. The pages were not overwhelming with huge pictures, but with miniature pictures that captured what is going on in the paragraph. This was also great because I was able to better visualize what the brother’s uniforms looked like.
Although I liked the illustrations and characters, I did not like the writing of the show more story. I thought this book was very disorganized and did not flow smoothly. I had a hard time following this book especially when the brothers went off to war. They did not say how long the brothers were deported which made it hard to understand how old the brothers were when they joined the Long Branch City Twilight Team when they all returned home. I could only predict an age from the illustrations on that page. I also thought the book was very disorganized especially when the brothers joined the Long Branch City Twilight Team. For example, the author was talking about one of the brothers being hurt from a game. The book never told us what happened to the brother and how he recovered; it just went to the brothers being honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame. I think it would have been helpful to state if the brothers had to take time off while their other brother was hurt, if another brother had to step in, or if there were any struggles during that time period while the brother was not playing.
In conclusion, I believe that the author was trying to show readers that hard work and dedication pays off. I think the author is showing us that although the brothers went off to war they came back home and started playing baseball again. This shows how much dedication the brothers had which lead them to wear they are now. Although there is room for improvement, I liked the overall message of this book. show less