¡Llámenme Roberto!

★ “The triumphant picture book biography skillfully weaves an underdog sports story with political context, prioritizing Roberto’s love of the game while also exploring how white supremacy played into his professional and personal life. Gutierrez’s celebratory art is a riot of movement and color, with fluid lines and painterly swoops zinging through the saturated pages; patterned but balanced backgrounds create a contained energy that matches Roberto’s exuberant but disciplined approach to the game. His tragic death on one of his many humanitarian trips is detailed in the backmatter, but overall, Alonso, a career sports journalist, gives readers a joyful, affectionate portrayal of a sports hero told with the reverence of a true fan.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

“Admiring biographies of the great baseball player and humanitarian for younger readers abound, but here sports journalist Alonso takes a different angle…Though she covers on-field highlights up to his three-thousandth hit, it’s Clemente’s insistent identity as a Latin American in the face of jeering references to his accent in the press and efforts to rename him “Bob”—not to mention poor treatment on the road due to Jim Crow laws—that to her (and many Latine ball players since) make him an inspirational figure. ‘Bold style’ is a good way to characterize Gutierrez’s illustrations, too, as the sports star swats powerfully, runs bases, and makes catches in sinuous blurs of action or off-the-field poses within intricately interwoven frames and strong, swirling backdrops.” —Booklist

Nathalie Alonso is a Cuban American bilingual writer and journalist based in New York City. A seasoned baseball reporter, her writing has appeared in National Geographic, Outside, and Refinery29, among other outlets. She is currently a reporter and producer at MLB.com’s Spanish-language sister site, LasMayores.com.

Rudy Gutierrez is an artist and children’s book illustrator. He received the Pura Belpre Honor for Illustration for his work on Papa and Me by Arthur Dorros, a Caldecott Honor for Double Bass Blues by Andrea J. Loney, and the Americas Book Award for Pele, King of Soccer by Monica Brown, among many other honors. Rudy teaches illustration at the Pratt Institute School of Design in New York City.

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