Suitcase

by Mildred Pitts Walter, Teresa Flavin (Illustrator)

Despite his love of drawing and his feelings of inadequacy as an athlete, sixth-grader Alexander "Suitcase" Bingham works to become a baseball player to win the approval of his father. By the author of Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World.

Genres: Realistic Fiction

107 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 1999

About the author

Delegate to the 2nd World Black and African Festival of the Arts & Culture in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1977. Graduate of Southern University with an MA in education from Antioch College. She lives in Denver, Colorado, and travels widely as an educational consultant.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely story, lovely message. I'm not a huge fan of the way this book was written. It is obviously for younger readers, but it seems to be written "down" to younger children. In all fairness, this book is about 20 years old, and authors and publishers perhaps were not as conscious about how to connect with younger readers on their level. The story itself and its message are universal and classic, but its writing style is a bit dated.

[Gillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Xander is a gangly teenager who can't quite control his too long arms and legs. Being tall, everyone - especially his father - expects him to excel at basketball but it's not hapenning.
For me, this had too many basketball terms for a non-player.

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story of a boy who is really tall for his age and hasn't yet learned control of his body. The other boys make fun of him, his sister is ashamed of him, and his father seems remote. I'm putting this in one of the fifth grade classrooms in my school.

[Neysha Trottman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book I choose to red over the summer is “Suitcase” by Mildred Pitts Walter. The main character Alexander is very tall, he likes art, and is nerdy looking. Alexander gets bullied by a few of his classmates, Ronnie and his friends in a school located in New York. Alexander gets bullied because he carries a lot of books, is tall, and enjoys art, they call him “Suitcase” and “Seemore”. Alexander’s talent is drawing and his dad wants him to play a sport such as, basketball, little does he know he can play but he has more interest in art. Later in this book, Alexander tries out for the team and he successfully made it. After this day Ronnie and his friends stopped making fun of him. The message of this book is, don't let anyone think you can't do anything just because you have a stronger talent in something else.

I really enjoy reading this book because it relates to the real world in many schools today. This book made me feel happy because Alexander proved his dad and classmates wrong. I would recommend this book to my classmates and students all around the world

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suitcase was an alright book. Alexander the main character is a very good drawer who is not liked by many of his peers. In PE class he is always picked last and he makes a lot of mistakes. Alexander overhears his older sister Brandy say how he is an embarrassment and he believes his family doesn't really care about him. After this, Alexander works really hard to become good at basketball and baseball so his dad will be proud. In the end, Alexander becomes a very talented baseball player and he still continues to draw. Alexander wins a drawing contest at the end and his parents hug him and he feels loved. This book was a little bit cheesy but it was a cute story, I liked how they explained Alexander working so hard to get better at sports, which was not his strong suit. I would only recommend this to sports fans or people who like stories about people who work very hard.

[Kesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real feel-good easy leveled reader for below grade level students to become emergent readers or a wonderful on grade level reader for young readers. Suitcase learns to feel comfortable in his skin and connect with his father whom he feels does not value him.

[Debrarian]

Despite his love of drawing and his feelings of inadequacy as an athlete, sixth-grader Xander "Suitcase" Bingham works to become a baseball player to win the approval of his father.

[Adjoa Ife · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this to my son. he really liked it and now he wants a jump rope

[Jairo]

It was the best book I've read