Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America

A realistic account of what it means to be an activist as a young kid. This memoir follows Sharon, the daughter of color barrier-breaking baseball player Jackie Robinson, as she navigates systemic anti-Black racism in America while being a preteen. This is the story of how one girl finds her voice in the fight for justice and equality.

A portrait of the baseball legend, written by his daughter, traces the events that led up to Robinson’s historic signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers and his role in promoting the desegregation of baseball.

Ten-year-old Elijiah Breeze, a.k.a. Jumper, is having the hardest summer of his life. His father has just died; his mother has moved them from the suburbs to New York City’s Harlem area; and he has to spend the summer at baseball camp. Basketball is Jumper’s game. He doesn’t know anything about baseball, or city life, or how to keep going without his dad. Jumper struggles in his new life, but he’s encouraged by the support of his coach and his grandma’s wisdom. He finds out it is possible to start over in a new place with new people … and still hold on to what’s important from his past.

Baseball great, Jackie Robinson, never joined his children at the lake near their Connecticut home until the winter he made sure its ice was safe for skating. His daughter recognizes that courage is shown in many ways — from testing ice to breaking the baseball color barrier. Rich illustrations extend this well-told family story.

Based on the true story of a boy in Brooklyn who became neighbors and friends with his hero, Jackie Robinson. In 1948, when eight-year-old Steve learns that his African American baseball hero Jackie Robinson — who broke the color barrier in the sport the previous year — will be the new next-door neighbor in his all-Jewish Brooklyn neighborhood, he gains knowledge about respect, friendship, and unity.