The Stone Thrower

April 25, 2016
Richardson, the daughter of African-American quarterback Chuck Ealey, explains that her father’s knack for football began with throwing stones at passing trains during his childhood in segregated Ohio in the 1950s and ’60. James’s smudgy artwork conveys the deprivations of Ealey’s youth through thick strokes of paint and images of barren streets and cupboards; on the football field, though, Ealey is a formidable presence in a blue uniform and gold helmet. Richardson focuses on Ealey’s upbringing and early athletic career, emphasizing the value of practice and determination. A closing note fills in subsequent details, explaining that Ealey was never able to play professional football in America due to racial bias (he instead joined the Canadian Football League). Ages 5–up. Author’s agent: Carly Watters, P.S. Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists.

March 15, 2016
An African-American football player is denied an American football career. Born in a segregated town in Ohio in 1950, Chuck Ealey, African-American, grew up to be a great football quarterback in Canada. His childhood was one of poverty and hunger, but Chuck found a pastime--throwing rocks at passing freight trains. His aim became so good that the school coach named him quarterback, a position that did not please his white opponents. Ealey's daughter, who previously wrote an adult biography of Ealey also called The Stone Thrower (2012), here pens an inspirational story about her father. Unfortunately, though the author does not shy away from the hardships of Ealey's youth, it is only in her brief afterword that readers learn that American football teams did not want an African-American in the glamorous position of quarterback, often considered the team's leadership spot. Ealey, despite stellar high school and college records, had to play in Canada. With sports biographies so focused on baseball players of color, it is a good thing to have a title about a football player, but it's too bad the information about his career after college is not in the story itself. James' pen, ink, and acrylic art on Masonite is richly saturated in color and captures each vignette in a lively fashion. An inspiring though incomplete story of adversity and discrimination. (Picture book/biography. 6-8)

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February 1, 2016

K-Gr 3-Young Chuck and his mother live in a poor, segregated neighborhood in Portsmouth, OH, in the 1960s. Frustrated by his situation, Chuck begins throwing rocks at the passing train cars, learning how to hit specific letters on the train as it speeds by. Using this newfound focus and determination, he succeeds academically as well as physically, as he attempts to be the quarterback for his high school. Finishing with Chuck winning his first game and beating the odds, the book includes an afterword about the subject, Chuck Ealey. Ealey later went on to play football for the Canadian Football League, as the NFL was still heavily segregated. The volume brings home the message that hard work pays off and is one of the few picture books to mention segregation outside of the Southern states. Perhaps the book's greatest strength is James's beautiful artwork. His vivid mixed-media oil paintings are filled with texture and depth in each scene. His energetic brushstrokes and unblended colors show the desperation of young Chuck and the injustice of the segregated times. Some of the smaller images at the end of the book have clearly been painted on cardboard, their frayed edges purposefully showing, adding to the authenticity of the work. VERDICT An excellent addition for sports fans and a great vehicle to spark conversation.-Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
African American Chuck Ealey, raised by a single mother in segregated 1950s Ohio, as a boy hones his aim by throwing stones at passing freight trains; he's eventually made quarterback and later (we learn through back matter) achieves fame in the Canadian Football League instead of the then-still-segregated NFL. James's meaningful visual interpretations in pen-and-ink and acrylic add resonance to this account by Ealey's daughter.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)