42 Is Not Just A Number: The Odyssey of Jackie Robinson, American Hero
Written by Doreen Rappaport

Publisher’s Summary:
A look at the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in major league baseball, and became an American hero.

Primary Source Pairing:
In this comprehensive history of Jackie Robinson’s life, we learn about his childhood, his college years, and the internal struggles he experienced as he worked to become the first African American baseball player in MLB. Supplement this text with primary sources to extend the reading experience for students. There are many resources available on the Library of Congress website. Included above for this primary source pairing is an excerpt of a newspaper article from the Ellensburg Daily Record published September 29, 1947. Display or link the entire article and newspaper page for the full primary source analysis experience. Invite students to read the article and create text to text connections from the article and the book.

Questions for Discussion:

• What text do you notice first?
• How is the text and other information arranged on the page?
• What details indicate when this was published?
• Who do you think was the audience for this publication?
• What can you tell about the point of view of the people who produced this?
• How would this be different if produced today? How would this be the same?
• Make a text to text connection with the newspaper article and the book 42 Is Not Just A Number: The Odyssey of Jackie Robinson, American Hero.

Credits:
Book Cover and Summary: Follett
Reichler, Joe. “Robinson, Giants Made Big League History in 1947.” Ellensburg Daily Record [Ellensburg, WI] September 29, 1947: 8.
Full page link: https://news.google.com/newspapers,
Direct article link: https://news.google.com/newspapers

Additional Resource:
“Baseball Across a Changing Nation” Primary Source Set from the Library of Congress:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/baseball/