Author Yolen offers a well-deserved tribute to Honus Wagner, a poor coal miner from Pennsylvania who became the greatest shortstop of all time and set records for the Pittsburgh Pirates. But life wasn't always easy for Wagner. He was forced to leave school at an early age to support himself by working in the coal mines. In his free time, Wagner played the game he loved, and before long, it loved him back. Years later his baseball card sold for nearly...

In parallel stories, a Ukrainian Jewish family prepares to emigrate to the United States in the late 1800s, and Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designs, raises funds for, and builds the Statue of Liberty in honor of the United States' centennial.