Becoming Joe DiMaggio
By Matt Berman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Poems about growing up during WWII.
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What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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What's the Story?
Joseph Paul is named after Joltin' Joe by his grandfather, Papa Angelo, with whom he spends his time listening to ball games on the radio. His father is in jail, and his mother has trouble making ends meet. Then World War II starts, his father comes home, and DiMaggio goes to war. But through the years, dreaming of becoming a ball player or a doctor, he yearns to make his grandfather's \"broken heart soar.\"
Is It Any Good?
Based on stories of the author's family, the book, written as 24 short, free-verse poems, weaves a delicate spell of humor, nostalgia, and sadness. In doing so, he somehow captures two lives -- Joseph's and his grandfather's. It's astounding how much is hinted at and filled in in the reader's mind: the grandfather's difficult immigrant life and hopes for his son and then his grandson, the violent father's brushes with the law, the mother's trials in raising the family with and without him, the giftedness of the grandson, on whom the family's hopes are pinned, the career of DiMaggio and his importance to immigrant families.
This book is like a magic bag that holds so much more than physics allows. Your child may be surprised that in discussion it takes far longer to unpack all the layers of meaning and content than it did to read the book. That's the power of poetry.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how poetry can convey so much in such short space. How do you think this book would be different if it were a short story or a novel?
Book Details
- Author: Maria Testa
- Illustrator: Scott Hunt
- Genre: Poetry
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publisher: Candlewick Press
- Publication date: June 23, 2004
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 9 - 12
- Number of pages: 51
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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