September 15, 2023
A look at the NBA's first athlete of color. Even kindergartners know who Jackie Robinson was, but Wataru "Wat" Misaka's achievements are far more undersung. Growing up in Utah, and so able to avoid the incarceration that so many of his fellow Japanese Americans suffered in World War II (if not racist jeers and feelings of guilt that he was spared), Misaka led his college basketball team to two national championships, with a period of postwar military service in between where he was stationed in Hiroshima. Drafted by the New York Knicks in 1947, he played in just three games before being cut for reasons that were never explained; he went on to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering and raise a family. Inserting indignant words like unfair and unthinkable over a contrastingly dispassionate narrative, Diep tells his tale so sparely that she doesn't even mention when he died (2019) but also leaves the distinct impression that much of his story remains untold. Giddings' painted scenes of button-eyed figures standing in static poses or striding across spacious courts are likewise low-key, even in a final celebratory view of the white-haired groundbreaker looking on as a racially diverse set of young ballers applaud. Readers will come away appreciating his achievements and, just maybe, wondering why they've never heard of him before. Quiet in tone, electrifying in content. (author's note) (Picture-book biography. 6-8)
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