Jigsaw: Shadow Ball is a thrilling time-traveling adventure that mixes sci-fi action with powerful lessons from America’s racial past. Centered around a group of Temporal Guardians trying to preserve and repair the timeline, the story follows Noah and Francesca as they battle against shadowy forces like Global Harmony and the Grey Branch Foundation. Along the way, they cross paths with historical legends such as Larry Doby, Rube Foster, and Bill Veeck, learning how Black baseball helped kickstart civil rights movements. The book deftly interweaves speculative fiction with real history, taking readers on a rollercoaster from 1897 Texas to a dystopian 1980 Phoenix ruled by fascism and eugenics.

Reading this felt like binge-watching a high-stakes Netflix series. Gordon’s writing is snappy, visual, and deeply emotional when it needs to be. The characters are flawed but brave, and the dialogue flows like people talking in real life, not stiff, not overly clever. I loved how the story used baseball as a lens to view much bigger things: racism, resistance, and the price of progress. Rube Foster’s quote, “We are the ship. All else the sea,” really stuck with me. It gave the book a kind of heartbeat. But what hit me even harder was Cheryl’s descent. Her idealism turns to horror, and watching her realize how she accidentally created a nightmare world was genuinely heartbreaking.

At times the historical exposition gets a little dense. You might be deep in a firefight or an emotional reunion, and suddenly the story drops into a history lesson. It’s good stuff, important stuff, but it can slow the pace. Still, I’d rather have a story try something ambitious than play it safe the whole time. Gordon clearly cares deeply about this history, and it shows in every scene.

I really dug this book. It’s smart, bold, and weird in the best ways. If you’re into baseball, time travel, civil rights, or just want a wild story that respects its characters and its readers, this one’s for you. Shadow Ball would be perfect for high schoolers, history buffs, teachers, or anyone who believes that stories still have the power to change the future.

Pages: 160 | ASIN : B0DXMQXXZ8