"There's no crying in baseball!"
Did you say that in your head (or outloud voice) when you saw the post title? That line from A League of Their Own has to be one of the most quoted sports movie references around. [If we're off base, let us know!]
So what does that famous line have to do with this trio of books? We're glad you asked! While A League of Their Own is a fictional story, there really was an All-American Girls Baseball League. And these books are about girls and women who played the game.
- Toni "Tomboy" Stone is a Black woman who made who, in 1953, played regularly in professional baseball games - alongside male teammates.
- Lucy Chance, 11, is determined to master a knuckleball and be a pitcher like her dad, who plays professional ball in the minor leagues.
- College freshman Molly Bauer is an artist, not an athlete ... until she needs to field a winning softball team in order to stay in school.
Make this gift a grand slam with a special showing of this "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" film that was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in 2012.
Swinging into History: by Karen L. Swanson, Laura Freeman (Illustrator)
Elementary Nonfiction nominee
Reading Age: 7 to 10
Painting the Game by Patricia MacLachlan
Elementary/Middle-Grade Fiction
Reading Age: 9-12
Bunt!: Striking Out on Financial Aid by Ngozi Ukazu, Mad Rupert (Illustrator)
Reading Age: 14 to 18
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