School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up-After his father dies of a heart attack, Joey Grosser, a young Jewish boy living in post-World War II Montreal, tries to step into his old man's shoes. He takes care of his younger brother and helps his mother run the family store, while also keeping up with school, studying for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah, and running an ever-expanding empire of small businesses in a determined attempt to raise his family out of poverty. Camlot connects this struggle to that of pioneering baseball player Jackie Robinson and his historic run with the Montreal Royals. Joey looks to Robinson as a role model, and while this sense of connection feels legitimate, it is never fully woven into the story, instead coming across as a device that pops up periodically to help move readers through this quiet coming-of-age tale. Joey's obsession with getting his family to the other side of town where the rich folks live-while certainly understandable-begins to feel a bit cliché after a while, primarily because it never seems to grow into any deeper realization. There are a few notable historical references throughout, especially an encounter with a man who lost his entire family to the Holocaust, but overall the book doesn't quite capture the grit of Joey's neighborhood. VERDICT A coming-of age novel with a sports hook to round out middle grade historical fiction collections.-Bobbi Parry, East Baton Rouge Parish School System, LA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
It is the summer of 1946, and 12-year-old Joey Grosser is determined to be the man of the family and make a success of his deceased father's struggling grocery business in postwar Montreal.He is grieving, but he is also angry that his father has left them so poor. He wants to earn enough to get his mother and little brother, David, out of the poverty of their Jewish neighborhood. To achieve this, he says and does things that go against his own nature, while his best friend, Ben, tries to protect him from his own father's evil schemes. Joey narrates his own tale with all the fear and bravado he is feeling moment to moment. Camlot weaves the elements together seamlessly and naturally while never losing sight of Joey at the center of it all. All the characters, including the city itself, are fully developed and play important roles in Joey's journey, as when Mr. Friedman speaks to Joey about his Holocaust experiences and losses. Yiddish phrases and traditions are defined as they occur. Woven through it all is the story of Jackie Robinson's first season of professional baseball in Montreal, captivating Joey and his friends, with actual quotes from sports reporters placed at the beginning of each chapter. Readers will be completely enthralled with Joey's world and root for him all the way. Powerful, moving, and wonderful. (Historical fiction. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
