Reviewed by Sue Bartroff, MyShelf.com

This book while extremely well written, covers an amazing amount of ground.  The issues of new kid in school, the effect of death of a beloved relative on a child, school bullying, a child with a quiet sensitive artistic nature who wants to play ball, and religious and racial issues are all told in the story of Sam and Sachi.

Sam's grandfather who has raised him while his mother works, has died and his mother has moved back to the town where she grew up to take a better job.  Sam is grieving for his grandfather, trying to adjust to a new school, yearning to play baseball but not sure how to become part of the team.  He is hanging on to his memories of his Zeyda and gradually we hear the story of Zeyda's rescue from a concentration camp in World War II and about the man who rescued him.  Sam makes a friend of Sachi, one of the girls in his classroom through his drawing and wonderful surprises come out of that friendship.

I'd like to see this book become a standard in classrooms and required reading for 9 and ten year olds.  The material was presented gently, leaving the reader to draw parallels and make connections.  This book would engender terrific discussions at school or at home.  It is an important book; but needs to be taken slowly with plenty of time to talk about the many issues that are presented.

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