From Publishers Weekly
Drawing on written accounts and interviews with former players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, Rappaport (paired with Lewis for The New King) and Callan (a playwright) whisk readers back in time to the 1946 championship game between the Rockford Peaches and the Racine Belles. Judiciously using endmatter to relate a historical overview of the league, the authors serve up a fan's view of the game, placing a young spectator named Margaret and her family at the center of the action. "You have to be tough to play baseball in a skirt," Margaret's mother says, and it's easy to see why as Sophie "the Flash" Kurys and Betty "Moe" Trezza take the field, scraped knees and all. The final inning unfolds play by play, in potent and colorful language. Margaret, for example, notes that the Belles' victory "felt like the last day of school, the Fourth of July, the end of the War." Lewis's fluid, assured watercolors capture the on-field energy as well as the humanity of the players and their fans. Well wrought in every regard, this is a nifty introduction to one of baseball's shining moments and to the contributions of a group of outstanding female athletes in particular. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-This lively picture book opens at the bottom of the 14th inning of the 1946 championship game of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The score is 0-0. Rappaport and Callan tell the story of this real event through the eyes of a fictional young fan of the hometown Racine Belles of Wisconsin. Margaret, her mother, and brother never miss a home game and they are joined by her father now that he is home from the service. The girl dutifully keeps score, waits for her team to come through, and endures her brother's teasing about her scabby knees. Margaret's dream is to play second base for the Belles, like her favorite player, Sophie Kurys. Nicknamed the "Flint Flash," Kurys gets a hit, steals second, and slides home to win the game. "It felt like the last day of school, the Fourth of July, the end of the War." With its economy of language and telling period details, this book provides an exciting slice of sports history and an appealing bit of Americana, and vividly conveys the spirit of one great little girl. Lewis's finely wrought watercolor paintings deftly capture the crowd and the action on the field. The game-winning play at the plate leaves no doubt that, "You have to be tough to play baseball in a skirt." Archival and recent photos of players for the Belles and the Rockford Peaches line the endpapers and stats from the championship game and an author's note round out this winning package.
Luann Toth, School Library Journal Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
