Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game
Colin Kaepernick
Eve L. Ewing
Illustrated by Orlando Caicedo
Graphix
Published March 7, 2023
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About Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game
Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game is an inspiring high school graphic novel memoir for readers 12 and up from celebrated athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick.
A high school senior at a crossroads in life and heavily scouted by colleges and Major League Baseball (MLB), Colin has a bright future ahead of him as a highly touted prospect. Everyone, from his parents to his teachers and coaches, is in agreement on his future. Everyone but him.
Colin isn’t excited about baseball. In the words of five-time all-star MLB player Adam Jones, “Baseball is a white man’s sport.” He looks up to athletes like Allen Iverson: talented, hyper-competitive, unapologetically Black, and dominating their sports while staying true to themselves. College football looks a lot more fun than sleeping on hotel room floors in the minor leagues of baseball. But Colin doesn’t have a single offer to play football. Yet. This touching YA graphic novel memoir explores the story of how a young change-maker learned to find himself, make his own way, and never compromise.
My Review
This graphic memoir covers Kaepernick’s life from the time he was maybe ten or twelve until near the end of his senior year of high school. It follows his journey as an athlete, showing how he learned about sportsmanship, taking responsibility, and working hard for your team. It also shows the ways in which he fit with his white family and the pressure he felt about the ways he didn’t “fit” their expectations.
For example, at one point, he wants to grow his hair out and wear it in cornrows like another boy from school. His parents seem utterly disconnected from black culture. When Colin, a teenager, goes to get his hair done, his stylist comments that his hair needs to be moisturized. He had no idea– no one had ever told him this before. His parents are unhappy about his decision to change his hair. They tell him they just want him to look “professional” and not like “a little thug.” Yikes.
While the scenes explore Colin’s progress as a baseball and football player, the heart of the story is about the deeper questions he has about his identity and his value as a person. There are parts of himself that he feels he has to hide with his family, parts he can only really embrace with his friends. He explores why he feels this way and what the right way to stand up for himself is.
The last panel shows an adult Kaepernick on one knee in his football uniform for the San Fransisco 49ers, who he played for from 2011 to 2016.
Since the book only relates his high school experience, it does not show his college or professional football career, and the closing panel is the only image that references his antiracist protest.
After the memoir, a section of the book shows photographs and quotes from attendees of Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp. It’s a cool, inspirational section that I guess just lets people know about the camp? It’s not connected to the story in any formal way.
Conclusion
This is a thoughtful exploration of a young black athlete’s life. Readers looking for inspirational sports biographies or looking for examples of memoirs exploring identity and antiracism will want to check this one out.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 12 up.
Representation
Colin is black and was adopted by a white family. Other minor characters are black or Latine.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
In one scene, Kaepernick overhears a student telling another student a racist joke with the N-word in it. Other scenes include racist coded statements. For example, his parents don’t want him to have cornrows in his hair because they don’t want him to look like “a little thug.”
Romance/Sexual Content
Colin likes a girl and takes her to a dance. One panel shows her head on his shoulder while he’s driving. Another shows them hugging.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
In one scene, a white boy uses the N-word.
Drug Content
None.
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