Novel explores 'Pender County Rangers' baseball in the Jim Crow era
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Teachers and parents trying to get young boys interested in reading now have a power hitter in their lineup.
Sandra W. Headen, a former researcher with the UNC School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, has turned to writing books for young readers. Her new novel, "Warrior on the Mound," sets a baseball saga in Pender County.
It's 1939, and 12-year-old Cato Jones dreams of playing for the segregated Negro Leagues. His late father, Mo -- who died when Cato was 8 under mysterious circumstances - pitched for the Kansas City Monarchs, and Cato's big brother Isaac pitches for the Monarchs now, alongside the legendary Satchel Paige.
Cato and his little sister Hope live with their grandparents now. It's still the Great Depression; Cato has to sleep on blankets on the floor in the pantry because there's so little room. But he doesn't mind; he gets to pitch with his buddies on the Pender County Rangers, and he has his dreams.
Things quickly grow complicated, though. Cato and some of his teammates are caught "trespassing" on a whites-only ballpark. For that and a few other misdemeanors, he winds up having to tote and fetch at a white man's country store.
Which isn't all that bad: The store owner turns out to have been an old buddy of Cato's dad. One thing leads to another, and the Rangers are invited to play an informal practice game with a white team, the New Hanover Marlins.
Trouble follows. Somebody beats up Isaac as he's riding home on a bus. Cato plays a little too well against the Marlins, and a near-riot ensues. Cato has to lay low, camping out in a barn for a while, as a gang of white thugs plots to burn down a black church and a segregated black school.
Meanwhile, Cato finally learns how his father really died.
Written in the first person, "Warrior on the Mound" tells a brisk story with plenty of action and likeable characters. At one point, Satchel Paige himself puts in an appearance and teaches Cato the basics of pitching a curveball.
Cato, the Rangers and the Marlins are all fictional, but in between, Headen gives her readers a sugared history lesson on what life was like under Jim Crow segregation (lynchings and all), and on the history of the Negro Major Leagues. An appendix provides an outline history of African Americans in baseball, as well as a bibliography for more reading.
Book review
Warrior On The Mound
By Sandra W. Headen
New York: Holiday House, $8.99
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Novel 'Warrior on the Mound' looks at baseball in Jim Crow-era South
