(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Cato Jones and his friends, who are Black, skip school and cross the county line to see Poplar Field, the white boys' new baseball field. Cato wants his father, who died four years earlier, to see it, symbolically, through his eyes. Daddy Mo, a pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American League, would have loved the nicely groomed field with real bases, a raised pitcher's mound, and bleachers. But this is 1939, and what the friends are doing is dangerous. Sure enough, they are wrongly accused of vandalizing the field and required to work at Luke Blackburn's grocery store to teach them a lesson. Mr. Luke, a white man Cato has never liked or trusted, turns out to have been friends with Daddy Mo and offers Cato and his friends a chance to practice on the field with his son's team, sparking racial tensions in town. Headen captures the layers of racism embedded in a southern town where the histories of Black and white communities intertwine. To honor Black players of the past, Headen has named the players on Cato's team after actual players from the Negro Leagues. Extensive back matter includes a timeline, an author's note, a bibliography, and additional historical information.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) YA Eighth grader Arnie Yashenko hits a lot of home runs playing for the high school's JV baseball team. Problem is, he's been missing middle-school gym classes to practice at the high school, and now the state has changed the rules: if he doesn't take summer school PE, he won't graduate and can't start high school in the fall. But if he does the class, he'll miss the workouts necessary for pitching for the JV Comets. Besides (and Yash knows he sounds like a "stuck-up jerk" here), he can't mingle with the uncoordinated unfortunates who attend summer school PE. "There's a name around here for the people who end up in that class -- slugs! That's why they call it Slugfest!" Chapters alternate between Yash and other reluctant summer school attendees, including Cleo Marchand, who's there because of incompletes for missed time due to a skiing accident. (The others' first-person narratives save readers from an overload of Yash's self-absorption.) Star athlete and local legend Yash starts the season playing tag; duck, duck, goose; and musical chairs and, by the end of the term, is part of a team he loves. The team's musical-chairs experience even serves them well in a city-wide seven-on-seven flag football tournament. Yash learns the value of friendship and teamwork in this big-hearted novel.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(1) 4-6 Brinkley Yearbooks series. This addition to the Brinkley Yearbooks graphic novel series (Picture Day, rev. 9/23) stands on its own. Alexandra Olsen -- or Al -- loves baseball. Her middle school's team has won nine back-to-back championships, and they are shooting for a "full decade of baseball dominance." With encouragement from the new coach, Al tries out and makes the cut; she becomes the only girl on the team. When the school's attention-obsessed athletic director calls in a news crew to report on the gender-inclusive baseball season, Al's teammates end up resenting her for hogging the spotlight despite her best efforts to share it. Meanwhile, the school's girls' basketball team is crushing it on the court, but their record-setting season is all but ignored. As Al tries to rebuild teamwork and trust on and off the field, her best friends are also branching out, joining the art club and resurrecting a retired school mascot (a goose called "The Brinkley Beak"). These friends are part of Al's stellar support system, which buoys her spirits as she reclaims and reframes her story. With bold black outlines, striking color work, and dynamic layouts, the art adds further depth to the well-paced plot, memorable characters, and well-realized setting. In one impressively delineated scene, characters converse clearly while playing a chaotic game of dodgeball. Rollicking and tender, this comic knocks it out of the park.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Arigon Starr. Baseball's 1911 World Series was the first to feature a match-up between two Native players. Future Hall-of-Fame pitcher Charles Bender (Ojibwe) would pitch in three of the six games, including the decisive sixth, for the Philadelphia Athletics; while hard-hitting catcher John Meyers (Cahuilla) would be behind the plate for the New York Giants for all six games. Both players were nicknamed "Chief" by the racist press and endured insults and slurs throughout their entire professional careers. Sorell (Cherokee Nation) provides readers with biographical sketches of Bender and Meyers, tracing their childhoods and divergent paths to professional baseball before diving back into the game-by-game highlights of the thrilling 1911 championship series. Starr (Kickapoo Tribe of ­Oklahoma) employs a mix of hand-drawn and digital art throughout and incorporates Ojibwe and Cahuilla designs in the pages relating Bender's and Meyers's childhoods. The art expertly foregrounds the central figures: Bender and Meyers are drawn with detailed texture, setting them apart from the largely flat backgrounds featuring teammates, fans, and reporters. An author's note, a detailed timeline, and a list of sources round out this handsome package, sure to pique the interest of young baseball fans.

Reviewer: Eric Carpenter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) 4-6 When Bones Malone and his family move to the town of Langille, the transition is anything but smooth. He's the new kid on the baseball team with a strong arm but no control. He's one of the only Black kids in town, and he knows that his race affects how others treat him. Bones's teammate Kyle Specks (who is white) has lived in Langille his entire life, but he still feels like an outcast. Kyle always says the wrong thing and can't figure out social situations. The two outsiders join forces when they notice Langille's adults acting weirdly and suspect their strange behavior has something to do with the new tech company in town. Together, Bones and Kyle must stop the shady corporation before their own worst nightmares come true. Blending mystery, horror, and science ­fiction to explore concepts of fear, belonging, and forgiveness, this is highly accomplished middle-grade speculative fiction, perfect for readers who enjoy darker, layered books such as Ness's A Monster Calls (rev. 9/11).

Reviewer: S. R. Toliver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(2) 4-6 How does a family live with recurring cancer? Would you want to know if you had that same cancer gene? These questions anchor a powerful verse novel in which twelve-year-old Cass copes with her dad's serious illness and her mom's relentless positivity, and counts on best friend Jayla's steady support. Weaving together genetic research, homeschooling particularities, Christian religious beliefs, and baseball fundamentals, Hill's portrayal of Cass's daily life is full of detail. Her inner monologue drives the story forward; free-verse poetry in a variety of forms relies on Cass's clear first-person voice and creative spacing for effect. Cass grapples with the decision of whether to be tested for the gene. Does she want to know the worst (or best) or does she want to live her life in fear and worry about the unknown? Her situation raises existential questions in ways that are palpable and relevant. Hill delicately balances deep sadness with genuine hopefulness in this distinctive and compelling novel.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(1) 4-6 Evicted from their Oklahoma farm in the midst of the Dust Bowl, the Willard family strikes out for California looking for work as migrant pickers. Scrappy Gloria Mae, the youngest child, tells the story, and Schrempp admirably never wavers from her perspective. Not fully understanding the scope of their circumstances, Gloria resents the move and the loss of all she knows, particularly her dream of playing baseball. She's good enough; even Pa admits, "You got the arm of a boy twice your size." When they arrive at a California peach orchard, they encounter despicable conditions: an unsafe working environment, low pay, squalid housing, and long hours. To quash dissent, managers intimidate the workers, forbidding group meetings, locking down the compound, and increasing police presence. For Gloria these are only background issues (she thinks that the forbidden "organizing" has something to do with arranging peaches); she has discovered the existnce of a baseball team at the orchard and vows to play. After a child is seriously injured in the orchard, Pa, who previously avoided all conflict, now believes that a strike is the only option for better working conditions. Gloria's struggles to join the team and her father's desire for change coalesce in Ma's words: "When you don't fight for what you deserve, the world just digs its heel into you a little bit more." An informative author's note adds historical context.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cannaday Chapman. In 1947, eleven and a half weeks after Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in Major League Baseball, Larry Doby became the second, and the first in the American League. Doby faced the same racism as Robinson. He was shunned by some of his teammates on the Cleveland Indians. He couldn't stay at whites-only hotels, or even enter the main gates of some stadiums. Opposing players spit on him and called him racist names. But he made a place for himself and was named to the All-Star team seven years in a row. Following her subject from an integrated neighborhood in Camden, South Carolina, to high school football, to the Newark Eagles in the Negro Leagues, Vernick (Brothers at Bat, rev. 3/12; The Kid from Diamond Street, rev. 1/16) provides just the right amount of lively text to complement Chapman's (Feed Your Mind, rev. 1/20) beautifully composed illustrations, especially effective in dramatic angles and shifting viewpoints: sliding into third base with a panoramic view of left field and the stands; a handshake with team owner Bill Veeck; and a back-view image (based on a famous photograph, appended) of a hug shared with pitcher Steve Gromek after a World Series win. This is a balanced account of one player's brilliant achievements and the ongoing struggle for racial equality in sports and society. Back matter includes a bibliography and an author's note detailing the many firsts in Doby's career.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(3) 4-6 Spectacular Sports series. "Baseball wasn't always centered on hitting the ball over the fence." Doeden's well-organized presentation begins by tracing the game's evolution from a focus on "methodically moving runners from base to base" to celebrating powerful, record-breaking home runs (a discussion of the steroids era is included). Other accessible chapters cover physics of the home run, "some of the most memorable long balls in major-league history," the twenty-five "most prolific home run hitters," and the home run's MLB future. Enhanced with lots of action photos, Doeden's engaging style brings the story to life. A glossary, source notes, a reading list, and an index are appended.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) YA Burke was baseball's first openly gay athlete--but he didn't come out publicly until after homophobia had ended his fledgling major league career. Maraniss follows the African American athlete's rise and fall from his Berkeley, California, childhood; to playing in the minor leagues and for the LA Dodgers; to drug addiction, homelessness, and HIV/AIDS. Sports writer Maraniss's compelling narrative weaves together sports action, social history, and first-person reflections for a rich biography of a talented yet troubled figure who was forced to lead a double life to chase his dreams. The extensive back matter includes a list of interviewees, bibliography, stats, "U.S. Gay Rights Timeline," an annotated list of other "significant Black American LGBTQ figures," and an unseen index.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) 4-6 Softball is in Shenice "Lightning" Lockwood's blood. The twelve-year-old catcher plays for the Fulton Firebirds, the first all-Black team in the league and the only team in the entire eight-state Dixie Youth Softball ­Association with more than three Black players on the roster. "It's a weight no one your age should have to carry, but can't ignore," Shenice's father tells her. She feels that every win is historic since she is trying to take her team to the ­championships and "live out the dream" of past ­generations of her ­family. This legacy goes all the way back to Great-Grampy JonJon, the family's "­baseball ­patriarch" who was "almost one of the first Black players recruited to the MLB. But something ­happened." The mystery of why Great-Grampy JonJon didn't make it to the majors becomes a parallel narrative to that of Shenice's softball games. The story effectively incorporates sports action with Shenice's sleuthing into her family's past. Stone's (Clean Getaway, rev. 5/20) straightforward, dialogue-driven prose is powerful, contributing multiple additional voices to Shenice's first-person perspective as she comes to understand how racism has affected her own family through the generations. This contemporary sports story goes beyond mere genre appeal; it is a novel of substance, carrying the weight of ­history.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(2) YA September 1946. Effa Manley is in the stands of New York City's Polo Grounds to watch a Negro World Series game between the Kansas City Monarchs and the Newark Eagles. She is the owner of the Eagles, a league executive, and a highly successful Black woman of the 1930s and 1940s, and this game is a celebration of "Black baseball, of Black community, of new Black money that had come streaming into the community via the war and accompanying hiring sprees." Manley is passionate about the game and envisions the Negro Leagues in partnership with Major League Baseball as farm teams that would "keep Black baseball in operation, and...also support integration by providing a steady stream of Black talent for the Majors." It is not the direction that baseball went, but ­Williams's story of Effa Manley and baseball is a dramatic narrative tapestry of America in Manley's time: the Harlem Renaissance; Booker T. Washington; ­Marcus ­Garvey; Babe Ruth and the Yankees; Negro Leagues greats Satchel Paige, Larry Doby, Moses Fleetwood Walker, and Josh Gibson; the Great Depression; and on into the era of integrated baseball with the signing of Jackie Robinson in 1945. A large font, spacious page design, and well-selected black-and-white photographs--along with the fascinating history--make for an inviting read and a good match with Nelson's We Are the Ship (rev. 5/08). Back matter includes an author's note, extensive source notes, a thorough bibliography, and an index.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Greg Pizzoli. We first meet Jack, a baseball-capped rabbit, as he waves hello, munches on snacks, and--swipes a woman's purse?! This initial encounter in Hi, Jack! sets the tone for the first four installments of Barnett and Pizzoli's easy-reader series: a roller coaster of sour and sweet moments for Jack, his dog friend Rex, and the nameless Lady. (Once he returns her purse. And her lipstick.) Jack makes trouble wherever he goes, from the baseball field (Jack at Bat) to outer space (Jack Blasts Off!), and the direct-address narration instructs him to mend his ways (in a not-always-constructive manner: "Jack, you are bad. You are a bad Jack. A bad, bad Jack"). Barnett makes creative use of a limited and largely decodable vocabulary for comedic effect, which invites beginners to read with expression and confidence. Pizzoli's illustrations, full of bold outlines and saturated colors, amplify the energy and dynamism in each story line. The text and illustrations work in tandem, sharing the weight of the narrative and blurring the lines between the picture book and easy reader genres while conforming to the physical specifications of the latter. This series promises an energetic romp through the good, the bad, and the bunny. Review covers these titles: Hi, Jack!, Jack at Bat, Jack Blasts Off!, and Jack Goes West.

Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(4) K-3 Illustrated by George Doutsiopoulos. Mamie Johnson was "the first female pitcher in professional baseball" in 1953. She faced discrimination because of gender (male players "grumbled about sharing the field with her"), size ("you're not as big as a peanut"), and race ("the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League wasn't ready to give black women the opportunity to try"). Though the illustrations can be stiff and cartoony, Johnson's determination and confidence shine. Bib.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) 4-6 The only thing standing between Lupe Wong and her chance to meet fellow Chinacan (or is it Mexinese?) Fu Li Hernandez, "the first Asian/Latino pitcher in the major leagues," is an A in PE class. But for seventh graders at Issaquah Middle School, that means square dancing. Lupe, always willing to fight for a cause, is determined to cancel what she sees as both an obstacle and an outdated tradition. Unfortunately, she ends up alienating her two best friends (not to mention the rest of the class) in the process. Now Lupe has to decide which causes are worth fighting for and what she's willing to sacrifice to do the right thing. Ultimately, her efforts both raise awareness of the racist history of the song "Turkey in the Straw" and make room for more than one kind of dancing at Issaquah's first annual Family Celebration of Cultures Night. As Lupe observes, "Some of us aren't even from here. And some of us were right here before this country existed. But none of us are any better than the other." Issues of identity, equity, and inclusion are explored with humor and heart in Higuera's debut, and readers will cheer right along with Lupe's family and friends when she, accompanied by Fu Li, promenades all the way to the pitcher's mound.

Reviewer: Anamaría Anderson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Katie Kath. Although our two protagonists spend little of the book together, they are connected throughout by their hard work and achievement. This family of two starts the day in a groggy daze as the sun rises over the breakfast table. Tate's text is concise, with many pages featuring only a brief list. "Cereal. Bananas. Milk" describes the daughter's breakfast, while mom takes "Orange juice. Toast. Coffee." In the car, the daughter anxiously taps her fingers on the backseat while mom does the same on the steering wheel. "Nervous?" the mother asks. "A little. You?" the daughter replies. Over the next several pages we watch the day unfold in side-by-side illustrations, often displayed in multiple panels. While the daughter tackles baseball tryouts, the mom starts a new bricklaying job. What's touched on in the text is made specific in Kath's watercolor and pastel illustrations. Daughter's successful base hit is shown opposite two panels of mom's construction project ("Butter. Scrape. Smooth"). We feel mom's pride in her handiwork and see it reflected in her smile across the spread from her daughter's own satisfied stance on the pitching mound ("Catch. Toss. Grin"). After their eventful day, each sleeps soundly, ready to give it their all again the next time. Details such as the umpire's bubblegum bubble as our ballplayer prepares her pitch, and Mom's colorful arm tattoo, add comfort and, for many, familiarity to this welcome and unconventional family story.

Reviewer: Hill Saxton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(3) K-3 Written for the peewee crowd, these clear introductions to baseball and soccer begin with a brief history of each sport and a glossary of key terms. Later pages describe gear, skills to learn and practice, team positions, basic rules, and game-day tips. A final note offers advice to parents (e.g., "Let the coach coach"). Crisp stock photographs spotlight young athletes in action. Websites. Review covers these titles: Let's Play Baseball and Let's Play Soccer

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Written for the peewee crowd, these clear introductions to baseball and soccer begin with a brief history of each sport and a glossary of key terms. Later pages describe gear, skills to learn and practice, team positions, basic rules, and game-day tips. A final note offers advice to parents (e.g., "Let the coach coach"). Crisp stock photographs spotlight young athletes in action. Websites. Review covers these titles: Let's Play Baseball and Let's Play Soccer

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) PS Landry's thirteen poems focus on different sports, from gymnastics to skating to baseball. Short bouncy rhymes, involving use of the first person, and upbeat tones conjure optimistic young children excelling at each sport: "I throw the ball. / You turn around. / I raise my arms and yell, / TOUCHDOWN!" Cheery ink and watercolor illustrations show a variety of skin tones and genders.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke

(4) 4-6 Ultimate Sports Road Trips series. Following a rah-rah introduction about the featured sport, each entertaining, if superficial, volume highlights seven or eight stadiums or sites that would make great road trips for super-fans. The four- or six-page sections provide basic place facts (including name, location, date opened, capacity), overviews of the teams' or participants' histories, and captioned photos. A trip map is appended. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Ultimate Sports Road Trips titles: Ultimate NHL Road Trip, Ultimate Soccer Road Trip, Ultimate NBA Road Trip, Ultimate MLB Road Trip, Ultimate NASCAR Road Trip, Ultimate College Basketball Road Trip, Ultimate NFL Road Trip, and Ultimate College Football Road Trip.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz