In their dynamic picture-book biography Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos (Calkins/Astra, 7–10 years), author Nathalie Alonso and illustrator Rudy Gutierrez trace their subject’s baseball career and his advocacy. See also the Sports--Baseball and Puerto Ricans tags in the Guide/Reviews Database.

1. Nathalie, as a sports journalist, what inspired you to write about Roberto Clemente?

Nathalie Alonso: I had always known about Roberto Clemente, the humanitarian who died tragically in a plane crash, in 1972, while en route to Nicaragua to deliver supplies to earthquake victims. But through my work as a sports journalist, I learned about Roberto’s contributions to social justice in baseball. I came to appreciate how significant this aspect of his legacy is to people in his native Puerto Rico. I felt that this part of his life had been overshadowed by the circumstances of his death and not discussed as much as it should be.

And Roberto’s fierce pride in his roots and his heritage in the face of injustice resonated with me as a woman of color working in a sport dominated by White men. Spanish is my first language, and I am fluent, yet I felt awkward and uncomfortable speaking it in professional settings early in my career. So I found the moment when Roberto addressed his parents in Spanish on U.S. national television after winning the 1971 World Series validating and empowering.

2. Rudy, how did you decide on the mix between abstract and realistic elements?

Rudy Gutierrez: My visual language is the blend of abstraction and realism which can manifest itself into a sort of gumbo. It can be made up of different approaches such as flat and tonal, also inclusive of different mediums with varying spontaneity and looseness, as well as tight realistic areas. I like to look at it as elements of realism and spirit. So when I tackle the subject matter and text, in this case Roberto Clemente, I filter it into my own visual language while responding to his reality and narrative with the knowledge and understanding that it will feel right culturally and visually because of our shared Puerto Rican background.

3. Nathalie, why did you decide to use present tense for the text?

NA: Initially, the manuscript was in past tense. But at one point, I was stuck and felt that the voice wasn’t quite right. So I tried switching to present tense, and I loved the effect. A book about baseball has to move along at a quick pace, and I think present tense helped me achieve that. In his review for the Horn Book, Brian E. Wilson says that I write “with the immediacy of a play-by-play announcer.” When I read that review, I realized that, subconsciously, I probably preferred the present tense because it allowed me to write as though I was calling a game and watching it unfold.

4. Rudy, how did Puerto Rican culture influence your illustrations?

RG: Puerto Rican culture is a constant in my work, which I view as an extension of who I am. It’s sometimes obvious and at other times more subtle. In the case of this book it served, at times, to flavor the visual narrative with hand-painted words and/or drawings based on petroglyphic influences such as Taíno art (art of the Indigenous people of Puerto Rico), as well as African-based iconography for the effect that I wanted, which of course was based on who Roberto Clemente was as an Afro-Latino. It’s my responsibility to enhance the words in any book I illustrate for the purpose of feeling and authenticity.

5. Nathalie and Rudy, what’s most important to you for readers to take away about Roberto Clemente and/or about Puerto Rico?

NA: Roberto Clemente refused to diminish himself or hide his identity simply because it made some in the baseball establishment uncomfortable. That’s the lesson I hope young readers take away from this book.

RG: Roberto Clemente was absolutely a hero of mine growing up. Culturally we are of the same background, being Puerto Rican by descent, and I very much have always admired his giving nature, as well as his stances of righteous indignation at injustices while aiming for the uplift of our people. My hope is that young people in particular will see, value, and emulate his incredible integrity and pride in who he was so they will know their own validity.

From the September 2024 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.