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sarahanne8382's review
4.0
This was a really solidly written biography for middle and high school students about an incredible player Major League Baseball tried to forget.
The inventor of the high five, an important rookie on a World Series team, the first MLB player to come out as gay, friend to many, brother, son, uncle. Maraniss does a great job weaving in relevant details from the sports world and general culture of the time to help readers understand the world Glenn Burke was growing up in and why it was so hard for him to be a gay baseball player in a society that didn't want gay people to live out their truth in public view. He gives Burke fair treatment admitting the man made some bad choices, but also clearly lays out the numerous and systemic ways that society and Major League Baseball in particular failed him.
I wasn't sure I was going to to get into this story, but now I'm so glad I read it.
The inventor of the high five, an important rookie on a World Series team, the first MLB player to come out as gay, friend to many, brother, son, uncle. Maraniss does a great job weaving in relevant details from the sports world and general culture of the time to help readers understand the world Glenn Burke was growing up in and why it was so hard for him to be a gay baseball player in a society that didn't want gay people to live out their truth in public view. He gives Burke fair treatment admitting the man made some bad choices, but also clearly lays out the numerous and systemic ways that society and Major League Baseball in particular failed him.
I wasn't sure I was going to to get into this story, but now I'm so glad I read it.
pamiverson's review
4.0
Glenn Burke was an amazing athlete – he played professional baseball, but perhaps was a better basketball player. He was also a gay Black man in a time that was not considered to be okay, and Tommy Lasorda and the Dodgers couldn’t handle that. So his career never really took off and his downfall was really sad. I will think of him every time I high-five – we have him to thank for that.
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