Summary of "The Bat Boy and His Violin" by Gavin Curtis

Curtis, Gavin

The Bat Boy and His Violin

September 2000

Scholastic Incorporated. 

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for non-violent social change through peace and brotherhood.

Keywords: Negro Leagues, Coloreds, Jackie Robinson, African Americans

Summary: A manager of a baseball team in a negro league enlists his son as a batboy. The son is not very good at being a batboy but the team loves listening to him play his violin. In the end the son realizes that his father appreciates him and his music more than baseball, something the son didn’t think was possible.

Teaching Suggestions:

• This could be a great book for an introduction to the topic of segregation for younger grade levels.
• This is a book that discusses the Jim Crow laws and how some people just accepted them.
• It could be used to discuss such people as Jackie Robinson or , famous athletes from the past and present.
• For first grade this book could tie into the social studies content goal, “1.SS.1.1.2, compare difference in the ways American families live today to how they lived in the past.