Throwing Like A Girl
Grade 5-9–When Ella and her parents move from Chicago to Dallas in March, she resigns herself to finishing her sophomore year without friends. Her first-person narration of week one at Spring Valley Day School realistically portrays the insecurities of being the outsider amid well-established cliques. Things fall quickly into place for Ella, though: she gets matched up with Nate, a popular senior, for a marriage project in her Behavioral Science class, and although she has never played team sports, the coach recognizes her natural athletic ability and encourages her to try out for softball. The plot is predictable: underdog team starts out slow but comes together through perseverance and hard work to shine by season's end. While Nate is everything a girl could hope for, his younger sister Sally (also a softball player) takes an instant dislike to Ella and tries to sabotage the budding relationship, adding a bit of tension. The story is formulaic and most of the characters remain two-dimensional, but the action moves along at a brisk pace. Mackey's love of the game clearly comes through and the themes of friendship and sportsmanship are strong. This is feel-good chick lit that will appeal to reluctant readers and sports fans.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.