Becoming Joe DiMaggio

By Maria Testa

Book Overview

"With ineffable tenderness and absolute clarity, Testa tells a tale in blank verse. . . . Powerfully moving as it braids together baseball, family, and the Italian-American experience." -- Booklist... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0763624446
• ISBN13: 9780763624446
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Candlewick
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.2" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

Family, dreams and finding your way -- a home run!

I picked up Becoming Joe DiMaggio out of curiosity when researching some young adult literature for a class I was taking, and just fell in love with it. With an economy of words, Maria Testa paints a portrait of a boy, his grandfather, and the iconic baseball player that had a generation cheering. This would be a wonderful basis for classroom discussions/writing assignments on dreams, family, how poetry can evoke emotions with so few words. It can even be used to tie in math (baseball statistics, prompted by the poem "The Streak"), social studies (World War II), and even moral issues (the bombing of Hiroshima, domestic abuse). I recommend this highly for any student or teacher from fourth through 8th grade, and possibly even into high school.

A not-to-be-missed diamond

With a spare, beautiful text, Testa creates poignant characters and a passionate story. Every word counts here. "Becoming Joe DiMaggio" is a story for all generations. This book would be a lovely, thoughtful gift for all ages.