#MMBBR #Review #Giveaway #BlackHistoryMonth #WaitingForPumpsie by @bwittbooks via #partner @barbfisch at @blueslipper who provided a #free #reviewcopy

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In 1959 the Boston Red Sox was the last team in the Major Leagues to integrate. But when they call Elijah "Pumpsie" Green up from the minors, Bernard is overjoyed to see a black player on his beloved home team. And, when Pumpsie's first home game is scheduled, Bernard and his family head to Fenway Park. Bernard is proud of Pumpsie and hopeful that this historic event is the start of great change in America.

This fictionalized account captures the true story of baseball player Pumpsie Green's rise to the major leagues. The story is a snapshot of the Civil Rights Movement and a great discussion starter about the state of race relations in the United States today.

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Waiting for Pumpsie by Barry Wittenstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fabulous story about inclusion, history and family. It is one of those reads that both hits the heartstrings and teaches at the same time. It is heartfelt and sweet. A story to be savored and shared!

View all my reviews

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Barry Wittenstein has tended bar, driven a taxi, worked at CBS Records and CBS News back in the day, spent a decade writing music and lyrics, toiled six years as a web editor and writer for Major League Baseball, and three years as a substitute elementary school teacher.  He could be Walter Mitty's brother.

Barry loves to write narrative nonfiction picture books. He is the author of Waiting for Pumpsie and The Boo-Boos That Changed the World. In 2019, he will publish two more nonfiction picture books—Sonny's Bridge, about the legendary jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins; and A Place to Land (with illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney) about how Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “I Have a Dream” speech. He is currently working on a YA novel. He lives in New York City with his wife. To learn more, and to download free curriculum guides, visit his website: https://onedogwoof.com/ or follow him on Twitter: @bwittbooks

Praise for WAITING FOR PUMPSIE:

★“A grand slam.”  —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Bernard's conversational narration creates a warm bond with readers from the get-go, and although Wittenstein and Ladd never sugarcoat instances of racial prejudice, the story's moments of triumph sound the loudest notes.”  —Publishers Weekly

Giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive a copy of WAITING FOR PUMPSIE  (U.S. addresses) courtesy of Charlesbridge.

TO ENTER:

Leave a comment (and your email address, so I can email you if you win) about somebody who inspires you and why/how they inspire you.

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