The second of Stealing Home was extremely interesting and informative as the first half. Both Sharon Robinson, the author, and her brother Jackie Jr., continued to have problems. Jackie Jr. continued to have problems with drugs which resulted in his arrest on drug and gun possession. This caused a lot of humiliation to the Robinson family, especially Sharon and her father. Sharon as involved with a man who enlisted in the army. Sharon promised to stay true to him as they had a healthy relationship. However, Sharon found another man named Michael. Their relationship was a rocky one from the beginning. He was extremely controlling and physically abused Sharon. Sharon finally got out of the relationship but was scarred for life. The troubles of Jackie Robinson’s children could be due to the celebrity status of their father. As soon as they were born they were in the public eye because of what their father did and this did give them a great life. They however struggled as they got older because they could not measure up to the high standard their father set. They struggled to produce this lifestyle on their own as they failed in school and in relationships, and got involved with drugs and bad people.
The focus of the book in the second half was mostly on the lives of Sharon and Jackie Jr. Jackie Jr. struggled having the same name as his father and he turned to drugs, specifically heroin. Sharon got married before she was twenty to a man that abused her, but she learned from this experience. Once she discovered her own identity, she became happier and had more success in her life. Sharon did however tell how her father did not stop fighting for civil right after his baseball career. Jackie continued working for civil rights, but he had contradictory political associations. Jackie realized that he was somewhat used by a system for its own purposes.
This book was interesting because of its style and insight. There probably have been hundreds of books on Jackie Robinson and his career, but few are about this side of him and his family. What distinguishes this book even more is that it is written by his daughter who had first hand experiences with Jackie. I was expecting this book to be a tribute to the great baseball player, but its focus was on the family life of the Robinson’s. This book can be classified as a memoir as it tells Sharon’s memories of when she was young during the time when her father was still playing baseball. This book was something different from the ordinary biographies and autobiographies. Some themes that could describe the lives of the Robinson children would be maturation and discrimination. Both Sharon and Jackie Jr. were pretty immature at a young age as they had everything. Both faced a lot of hardship, and towards the end of the book they showed maturation. At the time of his death, Jackie Jr. had gotten his life back into order. Sharon said at the end of the book she was discovering herself and her passions, while she found a man that she had a good relationship with. The Robinson family still faced discrimination despite their place in society. The children grew up in an all white town in Connecticut and did not have many friends of their race. Of course Jackie faced harsh discrimination while playing baseball from other players, managers, and employees at team destinations. This book was enjoyable to read and a good change of pace. I learned a lot about persevering through tough times and the importance of having a tight family to be able to turn to during stressful situations.