They Boy and His Violin

By: Gavin Curtis
Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis
Realistic/Historical

This book is a very moving and powerful story. Besides the beautiful illustrations, the story can relate to most students. A boy, who is the son of a former Negro baseball player, has a gift for playing the violin. He would rather play than take any interest in his father’s manager position of the Negro baseball team, The Dukes. One day his father tells him he will be their new bat boy. Worried he will not be able to practice as much, his negotiates with his father and they work out a deal where he can practice in between innings. The boy is a much better musician than a bat boy and the team prefers his music over his bat boy skills anyway. So he plays. He plays Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and many familiar melodies for the players. The team goes on a winning streak and they so appreciation to the boy. When they lose their final game, the boy fears his father will go back to disliking his music. His father simply tells him no ball game or violin will stop him from loving his son. This book does well with connecting a father and son with different interest. It also relates well with the segregation history during the time of the civil rights movement. Using this book in the classroom will enlighten students to the past times and also introduce the many shapes of family and relationships.