Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy of this book.

Glenn Burke is one of the lesser known icons of queer history, especially when it comes to queer history in sports. I’m so glad more and more people are starting to discuss him and the legacy he left from being an openly gay baseball player to the man who invented the high five! I appreciated that this book talked about the struggles he faced on teams from teammates and managers because you don’t always see that in children’s books like this. But this was the reality for so many queer athletes back then and even to today. Men’s sports are far less likely to have out players due to the stigma attached to the LGBTQIA+ community and how masculinity fits into that. So, the more books like this that show how a player can be gay and still be great at their sport, the better the future will be for upcoming queer athletes.

Listening to the audio version of a picture book is always an interesting experience - and this one is excellently produced. The background music and sound effects provide a cohesive listening experience rather than overwhelming the narration, and the narrator does a great job with the pacing and tone.

And of course, Glenn Burke's story should be more widely known and I am thrilled to see a book for young readers about his life. My only concern is that for young readers without much knowledge of baseball, some of the terminology may be unfamiliar. Not having read the print edition, I'm not sure if there is any type of glossary or additional explanatory text there, but I think the audio would benefit from a very brief set of definitions of the baseball terms (and perhaps a sentence or two about the broader context of queer life in the 1970's, since the target audience was born after marriage equality and workplace protections became far more common). If you're listening with your younger reader, you can easily remedy this by periodically pausing on the first listen to explain some of these things so they will enjoy the story more on subsequent listens.

If your young reader enjoys the StoryCorps type of listening experience, this is a good one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I did not expect this book because I knew nothing about Glenn Burke. It is pretty fascinating to hear how the high five was created. The amount of prejudice that Glenn faced due to his sexuality is heartbreaking, and the fact that this book will likely not end up available for many kiddos who need to hear this story due to prejudice is also tragic.

Glenn Burke changed not just the game but all games.

Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC! All opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this audiobook from netGalley for a honest review.

I never knew the history of the high five. I just thought it was something that people have been doing for centuries but I've learned that it all started with Glenn Burke. The audiobook really made that first slap of a high five come alive! The story of Glenn's life is harder to deal with. Being gay openly or not in his lifetime was not ok and he was greatly mistreated for it. I think this book is a wonderful look at his major cultural contribution and his life in general.

Such an important, but sad story. Glenn Burke invented the high five while playing pro baseball, but unfortunately had to leave baseball because he was gay. I will definitely be adding the picture book to my classroom library and will be sharing with my students next year.

This was so short but I felt like it was so full of information. I didn't know anything about Glenn Burke before, but he had such an interesting and influential life.
I looked him up, and even though he died at 42, Burke left a huge legacy as the first openly gay major league baseball player and co-inventor of the high five. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook. The narrator was perfect, enthusiastic and nice

Love it or hate it, but the high five has permeated all levels of culture. So it’s fun to learn about its origins—which is deeper than I’d expect.

I appreciated learning about this obscure but profound bit of history.

It’s good representation too.