James loves sports, but he's too short for basketball and too small for football. However, he finds an old golf club one day, and quickly realizes that golf comes naturally to him.
When James goes to the town's golf course to learn more about the game, he discovers that only white people can play. In fact, African Americans are allowed onto the course only as caddies, carrying the heavy bags. Thinking fast on his feet, James applies to become a caddy.
James is worried that he'll never get to play. Then he meets another African American caddy and learns that there is a way: to play at night.
Based on the true stories of many African American golfers of the late 1950s, Night Golf reveals a little-known part of American sports history. It is also a timely reminder that the love of the game was once hard-won by some before it was enjoyed by many.
Awards
"Choices"
Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Notable Books for a Global Society
International Reading Association
Best Children's Books of the Year
Bank Street College of Education
Children's Books Mean Business
Children's Book Council
Parents' Choice Gold Award
Interest Level
Grades 2 - 5
Reading Level
Grades 2 - 3
Themes
African/African American Interest, Discrimination, Dreams & Aspirations, Friendship, Self Esteem/Identity, Sports, Sports History
Accelerated Reader
Level: 2.3
Points: .5
Reviews and Comments
* School Library Journal
* Publishers Weekly
* Kirkus Reviews
* New York Times
Cedric Lucas is the illustrator of Night Golf and Frederick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery (Lee & Low, 1995). He is also a contributing illustrator to America: My Land, Your Land, Our Land. He teaches art to middle school students in Bronx, NY, and lives in Yonkers, New York, with his wife and their two children.
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