JUST CALL ME JOE JOE

This promising if not wholly successful paper-over-board volume launches Joe Joe in the City, a series that aims to spotlight issues specific to urban African-American children. In the opener, Joe Joe is mistaken for a member of a gang of kids that has ransacked a white man's store. Shaken, he takes refuge in a library book about the Negro Baseball Leagues. Inspired by the example of ball player Cool Papa Bell as much as by the prayer he offers up at his father's suggestion, he returns to the store to resolve his anger at the proprietor. The text at times becomes mired in extraneous detail and lengthy exposition, and the art lacks polish; however, the volume addresses a genuine need. Families who face difficulties like Joe Joe's and who draw on faith to surmount them will welcome the reinforcement this book offers. Ages 6-10. (2001)