Baseball Saved Us: A Story of Hope and ReconciliationBaseball Saved Us, by Ken Mochizuki, is a picture book about a boy living in a Japanese internment camp- American during World War II. With its dark color scheme and illustrations, the book accurately portrays the harsh realities of life in an internment camp. The story centers on the boy's personal struggle to maintain his family life and find a group of friends in these bleak conditions. To create hope and restore their sense of dignity, the boy's father creates a baseball diamond and starts a league. The book's accurate depiction of life in an internment camp, combined with the subtext of racial equality, sends a positive ethical message and is an effective way to introduce children to the events of this difficult time. Baseball Saved Us exposes children to the grim aspects of internment camps. He does not hesitate to point out the overcrowded housing in the desolate conditions of the desert camps or the fact that Japanese Americans had to discard most of their belongings before leaving their homes. Yet, it is through these realistically dark details that this book teaches children one of its most valuable lessons. Children need to know that Japanese Americans were unjustly persecuted and interned. History books often gloss over the Japanese-American internment camps. Baseball Saved Us attempts to clarify this overlooked topic and teach children about the unfair treatment of Japanese Americans during and after World War II. By depicting the horrific conditions of the camps, this book exerts a positive ethical influence on children because it shows them how unfair it was for people to be forced to experience these harsh... middle of paper... .ball Saved Us should be read by everyone American children. His illumination of the hardships endured by Japanese Americans and his lessons of racial equality and courage in the face of adversity send a positive ethical message. Showing children the persecution of Japanese Americans and helping them empathize with different people teaches them that racial prejudice is wrong. In doing so, the book demonstrates that racial equality for all ethnicities is a goal worth fighting for. Children learn to recognize the unfairness of the treatment of “the other” and that they should instead treat everyone with the respect they deserve. The last page of the book is a photo of Shorty hugged by his teammates. It is a celebration of the defeat of racism and a powerful symbol of the racial reconciliation that the book's message so strongly promotes..