Roberto Clemente: Baseball's Humanitarian Hero (Trailblazer Biographies) (Library Binding)

by Heron Marquez (Author) "By the 1972 baseball season, Roberto Clemente had long been considered the greatest baseball player ever to come out of Puerto Rico..." (more)
Key Phrases: Puerto Rico, World Series, Roberto Clemente (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8–This excellent biography is well organized and enlivened with interesting details and anecdotes. It opens with a vivid account of the last game of the 1972 season, in which Clemente recorded his 3000th hit, and proceeds with a chronological account of his life, beginning with his impoverished boyhood in Puerto Rico. He spent his entire 18-season career with the Pirates, where he led them to two World Series wins (1960 and 1971), won the N.L. MVP in 1966 and 1971, 12 Gold Glove awards, and recorded 3000 hits. Tragically, he died soon afterward in a plane crash while attempting to bring aid to the victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua. In the early part of his career, Clemente faced a deeply segregated society, and he struggled with an unfriendly press much of his career. After his death, he was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame and an award was created in his name to recognize sportsmanship, community involvement, and team leadership. Black-and-white photos are generally well chosen, and the helpful appendixes include his career statistics. Balancing facts with insightful perspective, this is a readable, well-rounded portrait of a remarkable individual.–Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
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From Booklist
Gr. 4-7. This serviceable biography of the baseball great begins with Clemente's early life in Puerto Rico and ends with his death delivering supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua in 1972. Clemente's childhood is the stuff of legend: growing up in a poor but hardworking family, he played out his early passion for baseball with brooms or branches for bats and homemade balls. First signed by the Dodgers, Clemente spent his career with the Pirates, playing hard, inspiring his teammates, and becoming the first Latino to make more than 3,000 hits. His death in an airplane crash--the body was never found--is made more tragic by descriptions of the plane's poor condition. The text is not scintillating, and the photographs seem to be chosen almost at random with little relationship to the text, but Clemente's life is interesting enough to overcome the text's flaws. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Library Binding: 112 pages
• Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (December 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575057670
• ISBN-13: 978-1575057675
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #969,630 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)