The Girl Who Threw Butterflies [Paperback]

Mick Cochrane (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

For an eighth grader, Molly Williams has more than her fair share of problems. Her father has just died in a car accident, and her mother has become a withdrawn, quiet version of herself.

Molly doesn’t want to be seen as “Miss Difficulty Overcome”; she wants to make herself known to the kids at school for something other than her father’s death. So she decides to join the baseball team. The boys’ baseball team. Her father taught her how to throw a knuckleball, and Molly hopes it’s enough to impress her coaches as well as her new teammates.

Over the course of one baseball season, Molly must figure out how to redefine her relationships to things she loves, loved, and might love: her mother; her brilliant best friend, Celia; her father; her enigmatic and artistic teammate, Lonnie; and of course, baseball.

Mick Cochrane is a professor of English and the Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, where he lives with his wife and two sons.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cochrane (Sport) revisits the baseball diamond in this unhurried novel about a girl with a mean knuckleball ("Molly loved watching one of her knuckleballs in flight, but what she felt was not self-admiration at all, just simple curiosity. What was this one going to do?"). Dealing with her father's death in a car accident six months prior and her mother's subsequent zombie-like disinterest in life, Molly hopes that playing on the eighth-grade boys' baseball team will keep her connected to her dad. Molly is bolstered by her free-spirited friend, Celia (who steals every scene she's in), and Lonnie, a kindhearted, artistically inclined catcher. Cochrane offers poignant flashbacks of father-daughter bonding, realistic mother-daughter squabbling and some nail-biting moments on the pitcher's mound, but some readers may find the story's pace sluggish. Still, Cochrane's honest, quiet prose should find fans, as Molly finally pitches a winning game, earns the respect of her teammates and symbolically "lets go" of her need to understand her dad's death. Ages 10-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–9—In this sensitive sports novel, a thoughtful eighth grader works through the grief she feels over her father's death. In the months following his car accident, Molly's comfortable life has been turned upside down and her mother has become a stranger. Molly and her father had always been close; as they played catch together, he passed along his love of baseball and much of his philosophy of life as well. A loyal fan of lovable losers like the Chicago Cubs, he taught Molly to throw a knuckleball, a pitch that flutters like a butterfly. He told her: "You don't aim a butterfly. You release it." Molly finds comfort in her memories and decides to try out for the boys' baseball team. She meets some resistance from her teammates, but with the help of a sympathetic coach and friends, she earns a spot on the team. In Molly, Cochrane crafts an awkward yet engaging heroine whose perceptions and interactions with family, friends, and supporting characters ring true. Crisply written sports action balances the internal drama. Suggest this well-written character study to readers who enjoyed Kristi Roberts's My Thirteenth Season (Holt, 2005) and Karen Day's No Cream Puffs (Random, 2008).—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (February 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375846107
• ISBN-13: 978-0375846106
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #198,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #74 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Sports & Activities > Sports > Baseball

More About the Author

Mick Cochrane was born and raised in St. Paul, MN. He graduated with an English major from the University of St. Thomas and earned a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Minnesota. He is the author of three novels: Flesh Wounds (Nan Talese/Doubleday), which was named a finalist in Barnes and Noble's Discover Great New Writers Competition; Sport, (St. Martin's), selected for the annual New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age List; and The Girl Who Threw Butterflies (Knopf Books for Young Readers). Currently he is professor of English and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College, where he teaches courses in writing and literature, directs the creative writing program, and coordinates the Contemporary Writers Series. He lives in Kenmore, NY, with his wife and two sons.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic Adolescence, March 11, 2009

By 

Gary Earl Ross (Buffalo, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Girl Who Threw Butterflies (Hardcover)

Mick Cochrane's The Girl Who Threw Butterflies is that rare novel, a work for young adults that does not pander to its audience and is therefore a wonderful read for adults. After the death of the father who shared with her a love of baseball, Molly Williams, an eighth-grader with a mean knuckleball, decides to try out for the boys' baseball team. Cochrane handles her loss, uncertainty, and redemptive determination with uncommon sensitivity in this gentle book that gives the reader a solid picture of the joys and pains of early adolescence. Well done.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Girl on the Boys' Baseball Team, and a Whole Lot More, April 7, 2009

By 

Rachel Kramer Bussel "Cupcakes Take the Cake ... (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Girl Who Threw Butterflies (Hardcover)

I'm not a big baseball fan, but I was drawn in to this book and the story of both a girl's decision to go out for the boys baseball team, and the bond between her and her deceased father. What could have been way too much of a "message" book was actually quite touching as Molly makes the decision completely on her own (her mother doesn't find out until much later), though she does get a little Zen coaching from her quirky best friend.

Cochrane includes bits of baseball history and trivia, such as that female baseball player Jackie Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth, which will appeal to baseball fans, male and female. Molly's relationship with her mom, like many girls her age, is tumultuous, yet grows so by the end of the book each of them understand each other a little better. Molly's a curious, dedicated young woman, and Cochrane lets her story, and her interest in baseball, unfold gradually. She shows a true love of and interest in the game; there were times when I wondered whether she was simply pursuing it to maintain a connection with her father, but she goes beyond what they had, while still channeling him. A moving, at times bittersweet book that will have you cheering on Molly and her knuckleballs.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cochrane Hits It Out Of The Park With New Release, June 29, 2009

By 

C. A. Webb "Conversations Book Club" (Jackson, MS) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Girl Who Threw Butterflies (Hardcover)

Mick Cochrane has given readers young and old a book that will transcend all backgrounds and interests. THE GIRL WHO THREW BUTTERFLIES gives us a story that shows how important it is to follow your heart and fulfil your dreams, inspite of the odds against you. Cochrane also gives us a look at a world that many can relate to: a family coping with death, self-discovery and the true meaning of life. This is a book that will resonate with sports lovers and non-sports lovers alike. A real triumph.