ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Stone, Nic

Fast Pitch

192 pp. | Crown | August, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-9848-9301-7 $17.99 | Library ISBN 978-1-9848-9302-4 $20.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-9848-9303-1 $10.99
(2) 4-6 Softball is in Shenice "Lightning" Lockwood's blood. The twelve-year-old catcher plays for the Fulton Firebirds, the first all-Black team in the league and the only team in the entire eight-state Dixie Youth Softball ­Association with more than three Black players on the roster. "It's a weight no one your age should have to carry, but can't ignore," Shenice's father tells her. She feels that every win is historic since she is trying to take her team to the ­championships and "live out the dream" of past ­generations of her ­family. This legacy goes all the way back to Great-Grampy JonJon, the family's "­baseball ­patriarch" who was "almost one of the first Black players recruited to the MLB. But something ­happened." The mystery of why Great-Grampy JonJon didn't make it to the majors becomes a parallel narrative to that of Shenice's softball games. The story effectively incorporates sports action with Shenice's sleuthing into her family's past. Stone's (Clean Getaway, rev. 5/20) straightforward, dialogue-driven prose is powerful, contributing multiple additional voices to Shenice's first-person perspective as she comes to understand how racism has affected her own family through the generations. This contemporary sports story goes beyond mere genre appeal; it is a novel of substance, carrying the weight of ­history.
Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

RELATED 

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

The Republic of Birds
by Miller, Jessica
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Atlantis
by Mone, Gregory
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

It Doesn't Take a Genius
by Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
by Rivera, Kaela
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Soul Lanterns
by Kuzki, Shaw
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?