There were twelve—that’s right, twelve!—brothers in the Acerra family, living in a small New Jersey town in the 1920s and 30s. “They had four sisters, too … And a white dog … named Pitch!” The dog’s name was no accident: The Acerra brothers loved to play baseball. In the late 1930s, the nine oldest brothers formed their own semi-professional baseball team. They took a break from playing during World War II, but resumed in 1946, even as they married and started their own families. The Acerras played their last game in 1952, and in 1997 they were honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame. On the way back from that ceremony, the family’s bus broke down, and three generations of Acerras—men and women, boys and girls—waited out the repair by doing what they loved: playing baseball. An engaging true story is given lively treatment by Audrey Vernick, with appealing period illustrations by Steve Salerno. Vernick talks about interviewing two of the surviving Acerra brothers in her author’s note. (Ages 5–8)