Since "Title IX" in 1972 and dramatic increase in participation of sports by girls and women, one would think there would be a plethora of sports fiction targeting girls and/or featuring female main characters. My library shelves don't reflect that. Perhaps, being a man and out of the loop, I just haven't kept up. However, if I suspect correctly that any recommended reading list of sports fiction for girls is short, all the more reason to call attention to any good titles out there.
Thrown A Curve by Sara Griffiths (2007) is about fourteen-year-old Taylor Dresden who has family conflicts, poor social skills, low self-esteem, and body image issues. To compound and confuse her inferiority and emotional dilemma, she has an exceptional talent that she isn't sure is a blessing or a curse. She can throw a baseball better than the boys--"I...just sort of let the ball go. It was fast--really--fast--but sailed over the catcher's head...I threw my second pitch. It slammed through the heart of the strike zone...The next two batters never had a chance."
Her emotional lifelines are Justin, a loyal childhood friend who might become more, and an unorthodox, perceptive school psychologist who gradually gets her to open up and effectively confront her problems: "I still thought he was a weirdo, though I was starting to like his hokey greetings...We both began to laugh...At that moment, I believed he truly cared about helping me."
The author's entertaining and effectively created scenes show the peer prejudices and societal discrimination girl athletes still encounter especially if they participate in male- dominated sports. For example, " 'So, I've been meaning to congratulate you on making the...team...When you have no
no mother, I guess you turn into a boy'...I felt my face growing hot...'Stacy, I'm really getting tired of your crap,' [Stacy] turned back toward me...' Is being on the baseball team your twisted way of finding a boyfriend?' "And the hostility is not just from her peers. Here is Taylor's debut on the mound--"This inning, it seemed as if the umpire had turned on me. The pitches he'd called strikes before were now balls...Coach Perez emerged from the dugout...'What was wrong with those last two?' he asked the ump. 'I call them like I see 'em'...[coach responds]' Well, maybe you need to start looking closer, 'cause the girl is throwing dead-on strikes....' "
If sports novels with girl characters are uncommon, librarians and educators need to recommend and promote a title such as Thrown A Curve. How about Michael Cadnum's 1998 Heat? Eventually, some smart writer is going to create a bunch of "girl" sports fiction or a series and successfully tap into the millions of girl readers waiting out there.
Recommended by Robert L. Hicks, Librarian.
