CALL HIM JACK The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter

Narrator Torian Brackett brings vocal gravitas to this biography of Jack Robinson, which dwells as much on the athlete's youth and post-baseball civil rights activism as it does on his groundbreaking career with the Brooklyn Dodgers. A thoughtful preface explains the inclusion of dated and hateful language; listeners will hear the N-word again and again, giving them the barest hint of Robinson's own experience. It's a powerful, stirringly delivered account, but it stumbles to incorporate print design elements such as sidebars providing historical context and newspaper clippings. These are read aloud in a way that interrupts the narrative, making for momentum-breaking, sometimes wordy detours. Kids for whom reading is not a barrier will be better served by the print book. V.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2023]