Review by Janice Del Negro (Booklist, Aug. 1993 (Vol. 89, No. 22):
Born in Chicago in 1961, Kirby Puckett lived with his family on the fourteenth floor of a building in the Robert Taylor Homes, a ghetto housing project once called "the place where hope dies." But Puckett insists he never lost faith: "You need hope to be the best you can be." Touching on peer pressure, on avoiding drugs and bad company, and on accepting yourself for who you are, Puckett tells the story of his life and how he created his own future in a world that told him he didn't have one. With numerous photographs and watercolor illustrations to support the readable text, the book is a solid piece of inspirational biography that portrays both the man and the baseball player. It will be a useful purchase for school and public libraries. Category: Middle Readers. 1993, Waldman House. Gr. 4-6. ( )