The United States v. Jackie Robinson is one of those wonderful nonfiction picture books that takes a story you think you know and shows you a whole new side to it.

The book tells the story of the baseball player, famous for integrating Major League Baseball. But it mentions that accomplishment only at the end of the book.

Instead, the book focuses on Robinson’s experience of discrimination growing up and his frustrtion with discrimination in the US Army during World War II. Finally, during the war, the Army instituted an anti-segregation policy.

But soon after the new policy was enacted, Robinson was ordered to sit in the back of a military bus. Robinson ignored the driver’s demand and stood up for–by sitting down–his rights. He was arrested and court martialed.

But he won the case.

And went on to continue to make civil rights history in even more well-known ways.

One of the interesting things about this book is that it never uses Robinson’s full name until the second-to-last page, in a big reveal about who this courageous civil rights hero was. But of course the title gives it all away! I’ve been trying to think about how I’d share it with kids. Would I hide the cover and read the story to give them the surprise of the reveal? I’m not sure it ultimately matters. The book was a compelling read even though I knew who it was about right from the beginning!

I included this title in my #pb10for10.

The United States v. Jackie Robinson by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. (Balzer + Bray: 2018).