Roberto Clemente

by Susan Muaddi Darraj, Rob Maaddi

Roberto Clemente's life represents the ultimate rags-to-riches story. Growing up in poverty in Puerto Rico, the young Clemente never imagined that through baseball, he would have the ability to make a difference in the lives of his family and thousands of others. Within a few years, Clemente went from playing baseball in the barrio in Puerto Rico with a tree branch for a bat and a ball of string for a ball to playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. Though the journey to America was filled with obstacles, such as racism and discrimination, Clemente succeeded in winning the hearts and minds of the Pittsburgh fans, as well as Americans everywhere, with his tremendous playing ability and his humanitarian spirit. After he died in a tragic plane crash in 1972, Clemente would be remembered as a hero with a powerful throwing arm and a heart of gold. For his contributions to baseball, Clemente was later inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame, becoming the first Latin American player to receive the honor.

117 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Susan Muaddi Darraj won the 2016 American Book Award for her novel-in-stories, A Curious Land: Stories from Home.

Her new novel, Behind You Is the Sea (Harper Collins, 2024) is set in Baltimore and follows the stories of a Palestinian American immigrant community.

Her previous short story collection, The Inheritance of Exile, was honored by the U.S. State Department’s Arabic Book Program.

She was named a 2016 USA Ford Fellow, and she has received awards for her writing from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.

Her new children's chapter book series, FARAH ROCKS, was published from Capstone Books in January 2020. It is the first children's book series to feature an Arab American protagonist.

A Philadelphia native, she currently lives in Baltimore. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @SusanDarraj.

Reviews

[Chez Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about a true Baseball legend who opened the way for many other Latino baseball players in the MLB. The book tells the story of Roberto's life from his childhood days in Puerto Rico up to the day of his tragic death. A must read for baseball fans.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book went into detail about Roberto Clemente. Before we read this particular book, we watched a video and learned about his accomplishments through a website (bilingual):

http://robertoclemente.si.edu/english...

Susan Muaddi Darraj added some very interesting details about Clemente's life that went beyond our background knowledge (the video and website). Students were very interested in him because they also have latin roots. But above all, they could relate to his love of baseball because they began learning about him on Opening Day!

[Connor Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very inspirational. It was very good to learn how much a Greta man he was. He was truly a hero and shows us how anyone can make a difference in this world