Welcome to SPORTY GIRL BOOKS. At SPORTY GIRL, we want to give all girls the chance to love, watch, play, read, and write about any sport that interests them. We look forward to the day when the words, "You play like a girl," is the biggest compliment anyone can receive.

Saturday, July 28, 2018

#WomeninBaseballWeek New Book and the Complete List

Each day this week we shared books about girls and women who play baseball. On this final day we are focusing on books of the future. Unfortunately we were only able to find one announcement of an upcoming book and it's not until 2020! Hopefully you can help us out and add to our list.

Spring 2020

Karen Boss at Charlesbridge has acquired world rights to Balletball by Erin Dionne (l.), illustrated by Gillian Flint. The picture book features a reluctant baseball player who brings her love of ballet to the outfield and, with twirls and pliĆ©s, ends up leading her team to victory. 



Here are all the books we shared this week, plus a few more:




Picture Book Nonfiction
Corey, Shana Players in Pigtails
Hopkinson, Deborah  Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings

Hubbard, Crystal Catching the Moon
Mackall, Dandi Daley  A Girl Named Dan
Vernick, Audrey She Loved Baseball
Vernick, Audrey The Kid from Diamond Street

Picture Book Fiction
Adler, David A. Mama Played Baseball
Gorin, Leslie Elly and the Smelly Sneaker
Johnson, Angela  Just Like Josh Gibson

Middle Grade Fiction
Alpine, Rachele  You Throw Like a Girl
Bishop, Jenn  The Distance to Home
Butler, Dori Hillestad   Sliding Into Home
Clark, R. M. The Secret at Haney Field
Cochran, Mick  The Girl Who Threw Butterflies
Cristaidi, Kathryn  Baseball Ballerina and Baseball Ballerina Strikes Out
Day, Karen   No Cream Puffs
Gutierrez, Amy  Smary Marty Steps Up Her Game
Higgins, Carter  A Rambler Steals Home
Klages, Ellen Out of Left Field

Lord, Bette Bao   The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
Mozer, Stacy Barnett  The Sweet Spot and The Perfect Trip
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds   The Girls Take Over (Boy/Girl Battle Series)
Park, Linda Sue  Keeping Score
Testa, Maria  Some Kind of Pride
Tripp, Valerie  Kit's Home Run (American Girls Short Stories)


Young Adult Nonfiction
Ignotofsky, Rachel Women in Sports
Yomtov, Nel The Belles of Baseball

Young Adult Fiction
Griffiths, Sara  Throw a Curve
Hui Lee, Kris Out of Left Field
White, Ellen Emerson  A Season of Daring Greatly

Friday, July 27, 2018

Each day this week we will be sharing books about girls and women who play baseball. Today we are focusing on fiction young adult books. Books are in no particular order. The blurbs are from Amazon.

Marnie has never had a hard time fitting in with the guys. It would take a lot more than their goofy antics to keep her from joining them at the neighborhood sandlot to do what she loves best: play ball. An added perk of hanging out at the sandlot? Spending time with Cody Kinski, their high school's star pitcher and Marnie's best friend. Sure, he can be stubborn and annoying. He also knows how to make her laugh and respects her skills on the field. And when he gets nailed in the arm by a bone-fracturing pitch, Marnie becomes the team's best chance at making it to the playoffs. Except no one told the guys they're supposed to be on her side. 


There was a time when all was right in Taylor Dresden’s world―that is, as long as she was on the baseball diamond, pitching with all her heart. Now, as she enters her senior year, the magic is gone. With the scouts losing interest because of her poor grades, and with the challenge of the game gone, Taylor has made a difficult decision―she won't be playing her senior year. Everything changes when a local all-boys prep school recruits Taylor for its own baseball team. One of the first three girls ever to attend, Taylor must face the Statesmen―an organization determined to force Taylor and the other girls out of their school. Taylor knows she’s a great pitcher, but can she be a great student? Can she succeed in the face of devious boys who will stop at nothing to get rid of her? Singled Out, the exciting sequel to Thrown a Curve, will answer these questions as Taylor struggles to find her place beyond the pitcher’s mound.

Eighteen-year-old Jill Cafferty just made history. Her high school’s star pitcher, she is now the first woman drafted by a major league baseball team. Only days after her high school graduation, she’ll join the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class A Short Season team . . . but not everyone is happy to have her there. On top of the pressure heaped on every pitcher, Jill must deal with defying conventions and living up to impossible expectations, all while living away from home for the first time. She’ll go head-to-head against those who are determined to keep baseball an all-male sport. Despite the reassurance of coaches and managers alike, a few of her teammates are giving her trouble. The media presence following her at each game is inescapable. And to top it all off, Jill is struggling with the responsibilities of being a national hero and a role model for young women everywhere. How can she be a role model when she’s not even sure she made the right choice for herself? Didn’t baseball used to be fun?



Thursday, July 26, 2018

#WomeninBaseballWeek Nonfiction Young Adult Books

Each day this week we will be sharing books about girls and women who play baseball. Today we are focusing on nonfiction young adult books. Books are in no particular order. The blurbs are from Amazon.

Discusses how in the 1940s and 1950s women broke traditional gender barriers by playing professional baseball.

A richly illustrated and inspiring book, Women in Sports highlights the achievements and stories of fifty notable women athletes from the 1800s to today, including trailblazers, Olympians, and record-breakers in more than forty sports. The athletes featured include well-known figures like tennis player Billie Jean King and gymnast Simone Biles, as well as lesser-known champions like Toni Stone, the first woman to play baseball in a professional men’s league, and skateboarding pioneer Patti McGee. The book also contains infographics on topics that sporty women want to know about such as muscle anatomy, a timeline ofwomen’s participation in sports, pay and media statistics for female athletes, and influential women’s teams. Women in Sports celebrates the success of the tough, bold, and fearless women who paved the way for today’s athletes.



Wednesday, July 25, 2018

#WomeninBaseballWeek Fiction Middle Grade

Each day this week we will be sharing books about girls and women who play baseball. Today we are focusing on fiction middle grade books. Books are in no particular order. The blurbs are from Amazon.

Last summer, Quinnen was the star pitcher of her baseball team, the Panthers. They were headed for the championship, and her loudest supporter at every game was her best friend and older sister, Haley. This summer, everything is different. Haley’s death, at the end of last summer, has left Quinnen and her parents reeling. Without Haley in the stands, Quinnen doesn’t want to play baseball. It seems like nothing can fill the Haley-sized hole in her world. The one glimmer of happiness comes from the Bandits, the local minor-league baseball team. For the first time, Quinnen and her family are hosting one of the players for the season. Without her sister, Quinnen’s not sure it will be any fun, but soon she befriends a few players. With their help, can she make peace with the past and return to the pitcher’s mound?

Garland, Derby, and Triple Clark spend each season traveling highways and byways in their Rambler—until summer, when small-town Ridge Creek, Virginia, calls them back. There they settle in, selling burgers and fries out of Garland’s Grill after each game the Rockskippers play in their battered minor-league baseball stadium. Derby’s summer traditions bring her closer than she’s ever been to a real home that isn’t on wheels, but this time, her return to Ridge Creek reveals unwelcome news. Now the person Derby loves most in town needs her help—and yet finding a way to do so may uncover deeply held stories and secrets.

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.

Smarty Marty, and her little brother Mikey, are back in the first in a series of illustrated chapter books, about a girl who loves baseball, written by San Francisco Giants in-game reporter Amy Gutierrez. Smarty Marty is the official scorekeeper for her little brothers Little League team. But when the game announcer fails to show up for the first game, Marty is called to announce the game, inspiring her dream not only to score but to announce. But not everyone is happy about a girl getting to announce a baseball game.

Madison is not your average 12-year-old girl from Michigan in 1980. She doesn’t use lipgloss, but she loves to play sports, and joins baseball for the summer—the first girl in Southern Michigan to play on a boys’ team. The press call her a star and a trailblazer, but Madison just wants to play ball. Who knew it would be so much pressure? Crowds flock to the games. Her team will win the championship—if she can keep up her pitching streak. Meanwhile, she’s got a crush on a fellow player, her best friend abandons her for the popular girls, the “O” on her Hinton’s uniform forms a bulls-eye over her left breast, and the boy she punched on the last day of school plans to bean her in the championship game.

Every boy in the neighborhood knows Katy Gordon is their best pitcher, even though she's a girl. But when she tries out for Little League, it's a whole different story. Girls are not eligible, period. It is a boy's game and always has been. It's not fair, and Katy's going to fight back. Inspired by what she's learning about civil rights in school, she sets out to prove that she's not the only girl who plays baseball. With the help of friendly librarians and some tenacious research skills, Katy discovers the forgotten history of female ball players. Why does no one know about them? Where are they now? And how can one ten-year-old change people’s minds about what girls can do? 

When 13-year-old Joelle, a star baseball player, moves to a new town where the only option for girls is softball, she starts an all-girl baseball league against the wishes of her school coaches and others in the town.

Allie loves baseball. It's the one thing that has been consistent in her lately complicated life. Allie's father left recently, and now Allie has a new family—her mother's new girlfriend, Phyllis, and Phyllis's son, Miles, have moved in. It's taking some adjustment, mostly because Miles seems determined to get under her skin. Things start looking up when Allie gets invited to join the boys' baseball team as their new pitcher. But then Miles announces that he's quitting the boys' team and trying out for Allie's old team—a girls' team!

Fran Cullers is having a horrible summer. She was a star player on the Little League team in her old town, so the Highwater Hardwares should be thrilled to have her-except that they hate girls. She can run rings around these guys, but they won't even give her a chance. So Fran sets out to destroy the Hardwares. But vengeance is a dangerous thing, as she soon finds out. Fran, who has already faced some terrible losses, is about to lose the most important thing in her life-unless her family and friends come to her aid when she needs them most.

Named after the mighty Babe Ruth, Ruth DiMarco has some big shoes to fill. But she’s already on her way to achieving her dream of becoming a major-league baseball player. Eleven-year-old Ruth is the star shortstop in her small Maine town, and now a reporter is coming to interview her for Sports Illustrated magazine. She’s at the top of her game. Then she overhears her father in the crowd: “Real major-league talent. But I can’t help thinking what a shame it is that it’s all wasted on a girl.” 

This last book was written by our sporty girl blogger, Stacy Mozer. When thirteen-year-old Sam Barrette’s baseball coach tells her that her attitude's holding her back, she wants to hit him in the head with a line drive. Why shouldn’t she have an attitude? As the only girl playing in the 13U league, she’s had to listen to boys and people in the stands screaming things like “Go play softball,” all season, just because she’s a girl. Her coach barely lets her play, even though she’s one of the best hitters on the team. All stakes now rest on Sam’s performance at baseball training camp. 





Tuesday, July 24, 2018

#WomenInBaseballWeek Nonfiction Middle Grade

Each day this week we will be sharing books about girls and women who play baseball. Today we are focusing on nonfiction middle grade books. Blurbs are from Amazon.

At the age of thirteen, Mo'ne Davis became the first female pitcher to win a game in the Little League World Series and the first Little Leaguer to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. A month later she earned a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This inspiring memoir from a girl who learned to play baseball with the boys and rose to national stardom before beginning eighth grade will encourage young readers to reach for their dreams no matter the odds. Mo'ne's story is one of determination, hard work, and an incredible fastball.
For 12 seasons, from 1943 to 1954, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League captured America's attention with top-notch playing, and showed everyone that a woman's place was at home only when she was at bat, behind the plate, or scoring a run!

Motivated by her love for the game and inspired by the legendary Jackie Robinson, Mamie Johnson is determined to be a professional baseball pitcher.  But in a sport that's determined by white men, there is no place for a black woman.  Mamie doesn't give up-from the time she insists on trying out for the all-male, all-white Police Athletic League until she realizes her dream and becomes one of three women to play in the Negro Leagues.  Mamie Johnson's life shows that with courage and perseverance one can overcome even the greatest challenges.





Monday, July 23, 2018

#WomeninBaseballWeek Fiction Picture Books

Each day this week we will be sharing books about girls and women who play baseball. Today we are focusing on fiction picture books. Blurbs are from Amazon.

Amy's dad is away, fighting in World War II, and her mama must take a job. But it's no ordinary job--Amy's mother becomes a baseball player in the first professional women's league! Amy cheers louder than anyone at all of the home games. And while Mama's team travels, Amy works on a secret project--a surprise for her dad when he is finally back home. Historical Fiction.

A young girl's grandmother tells her of her love for baseball growing up in the 1940s and the day they let her play in the game even though she was a girl.

Elly has everything a girl could desire: bonbons, pretty clothes, maids to put everything in order, and a family that treats her like a princess. Except that, to her, life’s a boring, royal pain. All Elly really wants is to be with other kids—especially when they play baseball. She dreams of opening days, double plays, and joining the team. Then, one day, her fairy godfather arrives to make her wish come true. 



Sunday, July 22, 2018

#WomeninBaseballWeek Nonfiction Picture Books

Each day this week we will be sharing books about girls and women who play baseball. Today we are focusing on nonfiction picture books. Blurbs are from Amazon.

 
The true story of Marcenia Lyle, an African American girl who grew up to become "Toni Stone," the first woman to play for a professional baseball team. 

When Alta Weiss throws a corncob at a tomcat chasing her favorite hen, folks know one thing for sure: she may be a girl, but she's got some arm. At the age of six Alta can nail any target, and by seventeen she's outpitched every boy in town. Then one day her father takes Alta to Vermilion, Ohio -- home of the semipro baseball team called the Independents. "Where do I sign up?" she asks. But one look at Alta tells the coach all he needs to know: She's a girl, and girls can't play baseball. But faster than you can say "strike out," Alta proves him wrong: Girls can play baseball!

Did you know that one of America's favorite songs, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," was written about a girl? And that in the 1940s girls all across America were crazy for our country's favorite game?
These little known facts inspired Shana Corey to imagine a story about how one determined girl made her way to the big leagues & found a sisterhood of players in pigtails. With the same exuberant spirit that fueled the formation of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, joyful text & jubilant pictures celebrate these brave girls' love of the game & the league they called their own.

Ten-year-old Dandi (affectionately called "Dan" by family and friends) lives and breathes baseball. She may not be a fence buster but she can "hit 'em where they ain't" in the neighborhood pick-up games. The boys know she's a contender. And there's no bigger fan of the 1961 Kansas City A's. So when Charlie Finley, the A's new owner, announces an essay contest to get batboys, there's no doubt Dandi will enter the contest. Dandi not only enters the contest--her essay wins! However, her joy is short-lived when the contest officials enforce the For Boys Only rule. Long before the boundary-breaking ruling of Title IX, young women across the country used grit and determination to prove that barriers of gender have no place on a level playing field.

Beginning in 1922, when Edith Houghton was only ten years old, she tried out for a women’s professional baseball team, the Philadelphia Bobbies. Though she was the smallest on the field, soon reporters were talking about “The Kid” and her incredible skill, and crowds were packing the stands to see her play. Her story reminds us that baseball has never been about just men and boys. Baseball is also about talented girls willing to work hard to play any way they can.




Effa always loved baseball. As a young woman, she would go to Yankee Stadium just to see Babe Ruth’s mighty swing. But she never dreamed she would someday own a baseball team. Or be the first—and only—woman ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. From her childhood in Philadelphia to her groundbreaking role as business manager and owner of the Newark Eagles, Effa Manley always fought for what was right. And she always swung for the fences.



Sunday, July 15, 2018

#WomeninBaseballWeek July 22 - 28, 2018

Next week is Women in Baseball Week. To help celebrate, Sporty Girl Books will be sharing kidlit books about girl and women who play baseball.

Here's our schedule:

July 22: Nonfiction Picture Books
July 23: Fiction Picture Books
July 24: Nonfiction Middle Grade
July 25: Fiction Middle Grade
July 26: Nonfiction Young Adult
July 27: Fiction Young Adult
July 28: Books Releasing Summer 2018 and Beyond

We hope you will join us in celebrating these books, adding them to your list, sharing them with kids, and letting us know about any we forget. 

For more about Women in Baseball Week, see the flyer below.