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Grace Murray’s letter to Virginia Euwer Wolff, “Bat 6”

Dear Ms. Wolff,

What ever happened to Aki in your book “Bat 6” after her softball incident?  You left me as a reader hanging and I am still pondering on the outcome.

In my opinion, as one of the main characters in the book, Aki is a very admirable person.  She is a great team player on the softball field and works very hard.  As a member of a local swim team myself, I know what it means to be such a dedicated teammate.  It takes a lot of work and perseverance. 

My favorite character in the book is Brita Marie because she is a lot like me in the sense that she can take charge of a situation and handle it by herself.  Also, Brita Marie is brave.  My family tells me I am brave after enduring a year on steriods to save my eyesight due to a condition called scleritis.

In 3rd and 4th grade, I learned about racism and stereotypes.  I read about black slaves and different religions.  I learned that different is okay.  I started to see what I could do to include people with different cultural backgrounds.  In “Bat 6,” Aki has a Japanese background and Manzanita is very religious and has spirits coming to her.  After reading about these different heritages in “Bat 6,” it gave me a better understanding of how it feels to be from a different country and to have a different cultural background.  Since reading this book, I have tried to overlook cultural differences of individuals in school and on the playground.

This book showed me how a community can work together to make things better.  In “Bat 6,” the community is attempting to recover from the war but is having a hard time doing so.  By working together and helping each other out they can learn they can make a difference.  For example, the McHenrys brought food to Aki’s family because they had a very little amount.  This book proved that a community is very important to different people in different ways.  Since reading this book, I have noticed ways my community has helped others.  I have seen organizations help the community by preparing food for the less fortunate and collecting canned good for the Food Shelf.

In “Bat 6,” I learned that this war was hard for people to overcome WWII and some people have not gotten over it yet.  I also learned it was very hard for the Japanese to get back to their old living style because there was vandalism to homes.  Many people were apprehensive of the Japanese people after the war.  This showed in a couple different places in your book.  The first place was the negative graffiti that was written about the Japanese.  The second was the incident with Aki and Shazam during the softball game.  Since reading this book, I have tried not to blame someone unless I was sure that they were the guilty party.  If it turned out I was wrong, then it could back fire on me and I would be considered the bad person.  Getting over something is not always going to be as fast as jumping over a hurdle.  It may take some time but I always remember that life goes on.

Many people have heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”  Well, as I found out, the saying is the same with people.  This showed a lot in your book, for instance, Shazam’s mother is very upset that her husband has died.  It becomes difficult for her to be a good mother to Shazam because she is angry and upset with losing her spouse.  Because of this, Shazam also becomes very upset and angry.  One example that does not follow this rule is Daisy and Lorelei.  They are friends but their dads are enemies.  At the end the dads make up because it wasn’t a good example for their kids.  I learned that all parents are examples to their children and need to know that their kids look up to them and will mimic their actions.

This book has changed my view of the world in many different ways.  From culture and hard times to family, friendship, and community, everyone has the opportunity to be who they want to be.  We should be thankful for such a variety of people to learn and play with in this world.

Again thank you for writing this book.  I have learned a lot from “Bat 6” and will remember the lessons for a lifetime.  I am curious as to the outcome of Aki and her life.  Maybe there will be a sequel?

Sincerely,
Grace Murray