A High Five for Glenn Burke by Bildner, Phil

Phil Bildner

A High Five for Glenn Burke

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A 2021 NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor BookA Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020A 2021 ALA Rainbow BookA Bank Street Best Book of 2021A...

A 2021 NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020
A 2021 ALA Rainbow Book
A Bank Street Best Book of 2021

A heartfelt and relatable novel from Phil Bildner, weaving the real history of Los Angeles Dodger and Oakland Athletic Glenn Burke--the first professional baseball player to come out as gay--into the story of a middle-school kid learning to be himself.

When sixth grader Silas Walker does a school presentation on former Major League Baseball player Glenn Burke, it's more than just a report on the inventor of the high five. Burke was a black gay baseball player in the 1970s--and for Silas, the presentation is his own first baby step toward coming out as gay.

Soon he tells his best friend Zoey, but the longer he keeps his secret from his baseball teammates, the more he suspects they know something's up. Kids get pulled from the team, fingers point at Silas, and he stages one big cover-up with terrible consequences. Was it a mistake to share his truth?

A High Five for Glenn Burke is Phil Bildner's most personal novel yet, and drives home the message that there's no one way to come out--and there's a place in the field for everyone.

Audience: Ages 9-12

Phil Bildner is a former New York City public school teacher and lives in Newburgh, New York. The author of many books, among them the Rip & Red series, he speaks at numerous schools and libraries every year.

Genre
Children's & Middle Grade
Pages
304 (PB) / 288 (HC)
Publisher
Square Fish (PB) / Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr) (HC)
Publication Date
February 25, 2020
ISBN
9781250763280 (PB) and 9780374312732 (HC)