Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team

During the days of the Great Depression, the Acerra family of New Jersey had 16 children, 12 boys and 4 girls. The boys, including their father, all loved baseball and played it all the time. Eventually they formed their own team and entered various local and county leagues. Imagine having enough boys to not only field a 9 man roster, but still have another 4 players on the bench. The Acerras were good and soon their reputation spread throughout the North East region.When World War II came along, six of the brothers enlistd and went off to fight for their country. By God’s graces, and no doubt a mother’s constant prayers, all six came home. With peace time they soon returned to the sport they all loved. In the history of baseball there have only been 29 all brother teams. The Acerras hold the record for having played the longest.Writer Audrey Vernick does a superb job in not only capturing the historical facts of this amazing story, but she also imbues it with heart. While artist Steven Salerno is wonderful in his brash, cartoon styling that perfectly captures an era so vividly. If you like baseball, or simply a great human story, “Brothers at Bat” deserves your enthusiastic support.

Heart-warming story about a baseball-loving family who exemplify family stick-to-it-tiveness, patriotism, and joy in living. Good read for all ages.

Kids first and second grade

This charming book is a treasure. It tells the amazing true story of a 12-brother team that played for years in local team competitions that were common in the early part of the 20th Century. Their play was interrupted by WWII, when six of the brothers served; they all returned home safely to play more ball!. At one time, the oldest brother was 32, the youngest seven. Brother teams were not that unusual in that era of large families...there are 29 recorded baseball teams made up entirely of brothers, and some of these other teams are featured in other baseball books for kids. But this team, the Acerra Brothers, is the only one in Baseball's Hall of Fame, and they were the longest-playing of them all. Seven of the brothers were still alive in 1997, when their team was honored at an induction ceremony in Cooperstown, which they attended, (along with hundreds of relatives & a still-living sister). I don't think I've ever enjoyed a children's book as much as this, or had such happy anticipation in the delight it will give my baseball-loving grandson!

This fun, true story is a huge hit with the little ball players in my home and with friends who come over to play. You know a book is good when an eight year old stops running around with his pals and sits happily for twenty minutes reading! The fun details of the players ages, names, highs and lows and (one brother hit home runs into the Atlantic Ocean, another looked like he was posing for a baseball card when he was up to bat, etc) have made an impression on my son. The Accera's image of loving, busy family life anchored in a love of baseball makes this a new favorite of mine, too.

I love the book it's a great children's book and shows the bond of family

What a great book for children! Tells about amazing family who supports, encourages and loves each other even in the midst of arguments and trials. God bless these men! Quality book with book jacket.

I am a school librarian and I read this to my fifth grade students and they loved it. I had them write the letter that one of the brothers is holding while he is away at war. I found video of the brothers playing baseball on youtube and shared it with the class while they were selecting books. I also research which brothers were still alive and shared that with them. They didn't like that the youngest brother died before some of the older brothers. I even emailed the author to tell her how much I loved her book.

I had no idea that family baseball teams actually existed until I found this book, great book definitely recommend.