Tag Archives: Sports

Review: Out of Our League Edited by Dahlia Adler and Jennifer Iacopelli

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
Out of Our League by Dahlia Adler and Jennifer Iacopelli

Out of Our League
Edited by Dahlia Adler and Jennifer Iacopelli
Feiwel & Friends
Published January 23, 2024

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About Out of Our League

A compelling YA anthology from editors Dahlia Adler and Jennifer Iacopelli about the trials and triumphs of girls in sports.

Ambition. Drive. Determination. Talent. Courage. Teamwork.

Every athlete knows what it takes to win. But for teen female players, the stakes are so much higher. In this anthology, the voices of these athletes come alive, highlighting the ferocity of those who are often shunted to the side. From navigating rampant misogyny to forging a sisterhood through sweat or just reveling in the love of the game, the stories in Out of Our League address the phenomenal physical and emotional power of teenage athletes as they compete, persevere, and thrive, on and off the field.

My Review

The last time I reviewed an anthology, I took a new approach, in which I grouped the stories by topic and wrote a couple sentences evaluating each one. I’m going to do that again here so you can see who’s in the anthology and which stories I found to be its highlights.

One thing that this anthology does that was fun to notice is that each story contains connections to other stories within the collection. Like, a character from one story might be mentioned in another one. One story shows the filming of a documentary, and characters in another story reference watching that film. It creates an overall sense of these things happening in a world together, which I thought was really clever.

Overall, I found the stories to be kind of hit or miss with me. Some of them were so good I wished they were full novels. Others didn’t resonate so much. Here is a quick impression for each story in the collection.

The Power of a Support System

Safe at Home by Jennifer Iacopelli – Sisters competing against one another in a championship softball game. I love sister stories, and this is a great angle to mine the complexities of those relationships. This one packs a lot of thought into a few pages. Definitely enjoyed.

Power Ten in Two by Leah Henderson – This is another story where I wish there had been more time to get to know the characters and really watch the conflicts and changes play out. I love the idea of it. It’s about a very competitive girl whose drive isolates her from her teammates and an unusual object lesson her coach puts her through to teach her the value of operating as a team.

All for One by Yamile Saied Méndez – This story follows a girl experiencing disordered eating. She wrestles with a lot of guilt and shame and shows up for her cheerleading team, trying desperately to keep everything together. The story shows a lot of depth and compassion while acknowledging the danger and harmfulness of those behaviors and the importance of a support system.

Relationships in Sports

#GOALS by Amparo Ortiz – I like that this one highlights that all kinds of girls play sports, and you don’t have to be the best for your interest to matter. I appreciate the focus it brings to the pain of a breakup and the value in being your true self, even when that doesn’t fit into the box someone creates for you.

Sidelined by Maggie Hall – This one might be my favorite. I think it also uses flashbacks most successfully. I love the way it captures the evolution of the relationship between Oliver and Lexie and sets up the turning point of the story. We also see a girl who, despite her status as a rising basketball star, deeply loves football.

Bunker Buddies by Sarah Farizan – I think this story set itself a tall hill to climb. The story begins in a tense moment and immediately flashes back to the setup that led the character to that situation. The flashback explained the character’s feelings but wasn’t particularly endearing. The relationship between the main character and her opponent in the golf match is the most compelling thing about the story. The end of their match contains a sweet moment that careful readers will find referenced later in another story.

Save the Lead by Cam Montgomery – I know nothing about sport climbing, so it was fun to read this one even simply to learn a little more about it. I loved the relationship between Pilar and Pavel. I also loved the way that it impacted each of them without dominating their connection to their sport.

Issues in Sports

Two Girls Walk Into a Wrestling Match by Noomi Kanakia – Some stories in the collection highlight the power of friendship and camaraderie between girls in sports. This one explores the discomfort and harm that withholding acceptance does to fellow players. A transgender girl waits for her match to be called at a wrestling meet, and not everyone welcomes her.

No Love Lost by Kayla Whaley – I really like the concept of this one. It’s written like the transcript of a documentary, so it has an unusual look on the page, and the emphasis on what people say brings the characters into sharp focus. The story covers a lot of ground in a few pages, and I wonder if that dilutes the power of its message. At the core of the piece, two girls have an unresolved conflict over something that happened a year ago. They revisit the conflict in an argument and explore the ramifications of the decisions that the star tennis athlete made at that time. It’s an interesting conversation that raises some good points about disability representation in sports. It felt like an odd use of the documentary-style storytelling format, though.

Three Minutes by Aminah Mae Safi – I didn’t connect with this story as much as I hoped to. While I think it brings focus to an interesting part of boxing competition, I felt like I kept waiting for the actual story to begin. I wanted to know why she fired her coach, but we never really explore that or what she changed about her training or diet. It was interesting to think about the parts of boxing that happen outside the ring, though.

Fall in Love with Sports

Better in the Long Run by Sarah Henning – A girl in love with cross country shares her enthusiasm with a boy who got roped into the team as a punishment. I liked the back-and-forth between the two characters. The story shows a lot of growth for them.

Woman Land by Monica Kenneally – I love that this collection includes a story about girls in powerlifting. It’s a fun one, too, that shows a girl taking a risk on something she feels intimidated by and finding a new source of joy and personal pride.

Bunker Buddies by Sarah Farizan – I think this story set itself a tall hill to climb. The story begins in a tense moment and immediately flashes back to offer readers the setup that led the character to that situation. The flashback explained the character’s feelings, but wasn’t particularly endearing. The relationship between the main character and her opponent in the golf match is the most compelling thing about the story. Instead of further embarrassing or poking fun at her, the younger girl is kind and offers help. In exchange, the main character offers her friendship, something that matters a lot to the younger girl. The end of their match contains a sweet moment that careful readers will find referenced later in a another story.

Sports Camp

Kylie with an I by Carrie S. Allen – This one was excellent. A girl who has only ever had boys as hockey teammates attends an elite camp for girls in preparation for a huge championship. She has to reckon with internalized ideas about women in the sport and her expectations of herself and other players. She quickly realizes she’s got some work to do. This is another story that packs a lot into a few pages and does it so well.

One on One by Juliana Goodman – I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I love that it explores the complexity of romance within a basketball team. On the other hand, I wish it had addressed the cheating aspect more fully. I know sometimes in real life, people get away with things, so it’s not unrealistic. It was nice to see a win for love, though.

Valley Girl by Dahlia Adler – I love the way this celebrates summer camp and how playing a sport together, even if it’s not something we’re good at, brings people together. Definitely a feel-good story that had me smiling.

Anchor Points by Marieke Nijkamp – The collection ended on a really strong note with this story. It’s about two people who’ve grown up loving archery and attending an archery camp. We get to see the impact that the sport has had on their lives and the value of the friendship they’ve formed, even if it took years to come to fruition.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Stories include a diverse cast of characters in terms of race, identity, sexual orientation, and disability. One character has disordered eating.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some stories contain swearing and the f-bomb.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a girl and nonbinary person.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
One story shows an athlete who gets an injury. Another shows an athlete who engages in bingeing/purging.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko

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The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman
Gennifer Choldenko
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published June 11, 2024

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About The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman

Readers will be rooting for a happy ending for Hank in Newbery-Honor-winner Gennifer Choldenko’s gripping story of a boy struggling to hold his family together when his mom doesn’t come home.

When eleven-year-old Hank’s mom doesn’t come home, he takes care of his toddler sister, Boo, like he always does. But it’s been a week now. They are out of food and mom has never stayed away this long… Hank knows he needs help, so he and Boo seek out the stranger listed as their emergency contact.

But asking for help has consequences. It means social workers, and a new school, and having to answer questions about his mom that he’s been trying to keep secret. And if they can’t find his mom soon, Hank and Boo may end up in different foster homes–he could lose everything.

Gennifer Choldenko has written a heart-wrenching, healing, and ultimately hopeful story about how complicated family can be. About how you can love someone, even when you can’t rely on them. And about the transformative power of second chances.

My Review

This book is as good as everyone says it is. Every review I’ve seen has raved about how full of heart and unbelievably fabulous this book is.

Well. It really is! Oh my gosh. Hank’s relationship with his little sister Boo is the absolute sweetest. He takes care of her so attentively. They have these little rhymes or songs they do together, rituals that he uses to comfort her or help her settle.

After he takes Boo to a family friend’s house to wait for his mom to return, the story really kicks into high gear. Hank has a challenging relationship with his new caregiver, who keeps referring to him (age eleven) as a teenager in a way that leaves no doubt she’s got some baggage or past trauma somewhere in there. Their relationship makes so much sense, though. Sometimes Hank does kid things, and she reacts as if he’s deliberately trying to be hurtful. It’s not all bad, though. She is an excellent caregiver for Boo and helps Hank regear their relationship into one more appropriate to siblings rather than child and caregiver.

Hank is awesome, too. He draws pictures, plays basketball, and skateboards. I could see him being a really relatable character at a lot of levels.

I thought the story did a great job showing some of the big feelings that kids experience in a family in crisis and some of the layers to those feelings. Hank shuts people out, not wanting to connect since he doesn’t know how long he’ll be with his caregiver. He holds his anger close. Because his ability to trust adults (starting with his mom) has been broken, he has a really hard time trusting the other adults in his life. His behavior felt pretty realistic.

I can easily see why so many people love this book. I felt like I flew through the pages and could not stop reading. If you enjoyed Kyra Just for Today by Sara Zarr, definitely check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Hank enters the foster care system shortly after the book begins. His mom is an alcoholic. He has a diverse group of school friends and is close to a Latine family.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to someone getting a divorce in the past. References to Hank’s mom’s past boyfriends.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Someone has gotten in a car accident (off scene), and the car shows the damage still. A toddler sits in the back seat of a car without a car seat. A drunk person attempts to operate a vehicle with children inside it. A caregiver abandons children at a store.

Drug Content
Hank sees his mom drink alcohol. In one scene, she’s very drunk. At one point, he tries to reconcile her behavior and her statements about it. He rationalizes that every adult drinks sometimes. It doesn’t mean his mom has a problem. It sounds like he’s regurgitating things that his mom has said about her drinking. He can’t escape the knowledge that when she drinks, she doesn’t take care of him or Boo very well.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Takedown by Ali Bryan

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

Takedown
Ali Bryan
DCB Young Readers
Published May 11, 2024

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About Takedown

Sixteen-year-old star wrestler Rowan Harper’s biggest fan is her father.

But he has ALS, and his symptoms are getting worse. Saving his life will cost more money than the family has, but Rowan finds a solution. Will she risk her chances at a scholarship by competing in a lucrative, but illegal, underground MMA fight?

Takedown is a high-intensity coming-of-age story about family illness and competitive combat, with lots of heart, hope, and headlocks.

My Review

This is a fiercely compelling read about a girl wrestler readying herself for a big tournament and struggling with the grim progression of her father’s ALS. The author doesn’t pull her punches. These scenes are filled with big emotions, high-stakes combat, and heartwarming family moments.

It’s also got a lot of attitude. Rowan, definitely not a morning person, grouches her way through the early hours of the day. She keeps secrets more and more as she faces greater pressure to do something to help her dad. She doesn’t always think things through– which made me grind my teeth sometimes, but reads so realistically.

I liked that both Rowan and her best friend, Pia, are wrestlers, and they’re super different from one another. Pia thrives on fashion and is an online influencer. Rowan is more of a purist athlete: most of what she does is train and compete around moments with her family and boyfriend.

I cried multiple times while reading this book. Sometimes, a moving line caught me just right, and other times, a heartbreaking turn of events brought me to tears. I feel like I didn’t even have a lot of time to ask myself whether I *liked* Rowan. She is such a compelling character that it almost didn’t matter, if that makes sense.

I think I like her. Although her choices often frustrated me, I understood why she did what she did.

All in all, this book is a win for books about girls in sports, and books about wrestling. It’s one of those books that draws you in and won’t let you go until the last page.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Rowan’s dad has ALS. She’s a wrestler on a competitive team. One character is Lebanese on one side of his family and has two dads. Another character is South Asian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
F-bombs appear at intense moments. Other swearing used moderately.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. In one scene, a boy and girl quickly undress so they can have sex. (Not shown on scene.)

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Several scenes show Rowan in a fight and wrestling matches in practice and competition. She punches a guy in the face. She helps someone who has obviously been in a fight.

At one point, Rowan wonders if her dad is checked out of life. Like, not depressed/suicidal, but maybe thinking about assisted suicide.

Spoiler: Death of a parent. (Select text to view.)

Drug Content
Rowan and her friend drink beer at her friend’s house. They attend a party and drink more. Rowan ends up super drunk and sick and embarrassed about it later. Rowan’s brother, Ike, smokes cigarettes he gets from a neighbor. He comes home smelling like weed in one scene.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Pillow Talk by Stephanie Cooke and Mel Valentine Vargas

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Pillow Talk
Stephanie Cooke
Illustrated by Mel Valentine Vargas
HarperAlley
Published April 30, 2024

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About Pillow Talk

Grace Mendes a.k.a. Cinderhella is a fierce competitor in the PFF, a pillow fight federation that’s part roller derby, part professional wrestling. But in this fresh, coming-of-age YA graphic novel, Grace needs to learn to overcome her biggest enemy: herself. For fans of Check, Please and Bloom.

When college freshman Grace Mendes reluctantly attends her first pillow fight match, she falls in love with the surprisingly gritty sport. Despite her usually shy, introverted, and reserved nature, Grace decides to try out for the Pillow Fight Federation (PFF), a locally famous league of fighters with larger-than-life personas like Pain Eyre, Miss Fortune, and champion Kat Atonic. They may battle with pillows, but there is nothing soft about these fighters. The first and only rule to pillow fighting is that the pillow needs to be the first point of contact; after that, everything else goes.

Grace struggles with deep-seated body image issues, so she is especially shocked when she makes the competitive league and is welcomed into the fold of close knit, confident fighters. As her first official fight performing as newly crafted alter-ego/ring persona Cinderhella looms on the horizon, the real battle taking place is between Grace and her growing insecurities. What if people laugh or make fun of her? Why did she think she could pillow fight in the first place when she doesn’t look like your “typical” athlete? Turns out, no one is laughing when Cinderhella dominates her first match in the ring. And as her alter-ego rises through the ranks of the PFF, gaining traction and online fame (and online trolls), can Grace use the spotlight to become an icon for not just others, but most importantly, for herself?

Pillow Talk is an inclusive, high-octane, outrageously fun graphic novel that aims a punch at the impossibly high standards set for women in sports (and otherwise) and champions the power of finding a team that will, quite literally, fight for you. A knock-out! 

My Review

This was such a fun read! I was a little nervous at the very beginning that Callie, Grace’s best friend, was going to turn out to be a mean girl that Grace worked really hard to stay friends with. She comes off as selfish and self-serving in the first few scenes, but gradually, I started to see more sides of her. From there, it pretty quickly became clear why Grace likes her and why their friendship works. She has flaws, for sure, but she cares about Grace a lot, which was awesome.

I love the way this book celebrates female friendship. From Grace’s relationship with her roommate Callie to her connections to the other PFF fighters, Pillow Talk showcases the power that comes from people, especially women, lifting one another up. (One major character is nonbinary, and they do a lot of lifting up, too.) I really liked the way the book highlighted that without making it the point of the story.

Grace is also just awesome. I loved seeing her come alive in her fights and embrace being Cinderhella, the persona she created. She faces fear and doubt because she’s a plus-sized girl in a judgy world. The scenes that explored those feelings showed her vulnerability and hurt in ways that were so easy to connect with and made me root for her even more.

Readers looking for a fun story about friendships and wrestling or girls in sports will really enjoy this graphic novel.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Grace is Latina and plus-sized. Callie has had relationships with boys and girls. One nonbinary character is in a relationship with a girl. The rest of the PFF team is a pretty racially diverse group.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very rarely.

Romance/Sexual Content
One kiss between two girls. One kiss between a nonbinary person and a girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Pillow fight matches show characters swinging pillows at one another as part of wrestling moves. One fighter appears to get injured at one point, but a medical staff member checks her out, and she’s okay.

Drug Content
The PFF team go out for drinks and karaoke. (Grace and Callie are in their first year of college, but some of the other team members are older.)

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Misdirection of Fault Lines by Anna Gracia

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

The Misdirection of Fault Lines
Anna Gracia
Peachtree Teen
Published April 2, 2024

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About The Misdirection of Fault Lines

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants goes to the US Open in an emotionally honest and openhearted novel for fans of Yamile Saied Méndez and Jenny Han.

Three teen girls compete at an elite tennis tournament for a shot at their dreams—if only they knew what their dreams were.

Alice doesn’t belong at the Bastille Invitational Tennis Tournament. She needed a sponsorship to attend. She only has a few wins on the junior circuit. And now, she has no coach. Tennis was a dream she shared with Ba. After his death, her family insisted she compete anyway. But does tennis even fit into her life without him?

Violetta is Bastille’s darling. Social media influencer, coach’s pet, and daughter of a former tennis star who fell from grace. Bastille is her chance to reclaim the future her mother gave up to raise her. But is that the future she wants for herself?

Leylah has to win. After a forced two-year hiatus, Bastille is her last chance to prove professional tennis isn’t just a viable career, it’s what she was built for. She can’t afford distractions. Not in the form of her ex-best friend and especially not by getting DQ-ed for her “attitude” before she even sets foot on the court. If she doesn’t win, what future does she have left?

One week at the Bastille Invitational Tennis Tournament will decide their fates. If only the competition between them stayed on the court.

THE MISDIRECTION OF FAULT LINES is an incisive coming-of-age story infused with wit and wisdom, about three Asian American teen girls who find their ways forward, backward, and in some cases, back to each other again. Anna Gracia, acclaimed author of BOYS I KNOW, delivers with a refreshingly true-to-life teen voice that perfectly captures the messiness, awkwardness, and confusion of adolescence.

My Review

I read and enjoyed Gracia’s debut, BOYS I KNOW, last year, so when I saw this book coming out this year, I knew I needed to read it. I love the frankness in the way this author writes. It makes her characters seem so real.

In this book, the story follows three separate points of view: Alice, Violetta, and Leylah. All three girls have come to the Bastille Invitational Tennis Tournament with different baggage, and they’re not all even sure they want to win. They wind up as roommates and unlikely friends as the competition heats up, and they each face unexpected challenges and truths they weren’t ready to admit.

I am not at all familiar with tennis as a sport, so there were some spots where the jargon went over my head. I don’t understand the points system or some of the rules of the game, so I didn’t always follow what was going on with those elements. However, it didn’t hinder my ability to enjoy the book. If there had been a glossary of sports terms or an explanation of the points system, I would have checked it out, but I wasn’t confused enough even to internet search beyond a couple of things. For the most part, it was fine.

My favorite part was the way the girls’ friendships developed. Because they’re there to compete with one another, they’re not immediately inclined to become friends. In fact, Violetta and Leylah have some unresolved, painful history. But as the girls do get to know one another and realize how lonely they are, they begin to form tenuous connections with one another that could become the kinds of friendships that change lives, if the girls can learn to be vulnerable again.

In some ways, this is a story that wrestles with different kinds of grief. The grief of loneliness, loss, failure, and letting go. It’s also about the triumph of finding true friendship, what it truly means to win, and finally speaking up for yourself.

Fans of sports books and books celebrating friendship need to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
The three main characters are Asian American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl.

Some grooming behaviors by an adult male coach toward a teenage girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A couple of people get injured playing or practicing tennis. There are some racist comments or implied racist statements made against the main characters. One character purposefully knocks into two people after the’ve made racist insinuations about another character. One character eats and purges several times. She resists recognizing this as disordered eating.

Drug Content
One character smokes pot a lot. Others do it infrequently. In one scene, a girl gets very high and behaves in ways she feels embarrassed about later.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Breathing Underwater by Abbey Lee Nash

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

Breathing Underwater
Abbey Lee Nash
Holiday House
Published March 5, 2024

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About Breathing Underwater

In this slice-of-life, sensitively written novel, a teen girl grapples with a sudden epilepsy diagnosis, all while figuring out a new crush and an uncertain future.

Seventeen-year-old Tess Cooper lives by three train hard, study hard, work hard. Swimming is her best chance at a college scholarship. It’s what her parents, her coaches, and even her best friend expect from her—and Tess can always deliver.

Until tragedy strikes. Tess has a seizure, and her world suddenly becomes one of doctor visits, missed practices, and a summer job stuck behind a counter—not sitting high in the lifeguard chair like every year before.

Instead, her spot goes to new guy Charlie. Sure, his messy hair and laid-back demeanor sends Tess’ heart racing, but this isn’t really the time. She’s got to focus on getting back in the pool—regardless of what her doctor or anyone else says.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

My Review

Okay, so some of the things I liked about the book are kind of spoiler-y, so I apologize if some of my statements are vague.

I don’t know much about competitive swimming, and what I do know is mostly from other books, like FLIP TURNS by Catherine Arguelles, so I can’t weigh in on the accuracy of the swimming components. They were engaging, though, and I liked the way the author used metaphors about swimming to show when Tess was feeling overwhelmed or anxious.

Tess has a complicated relationship with some of her teammates, at first because she feels like another girl is stealing her best friend and later because a few girls on the team witness a traumatic moment in Tess’s life. Those relationships felt pretty real to me. The conflicts felt like the kinds of things that I experienced as a teenager. It was super relatable.

I can’t speak to the accuracy of the representation of Tess’s seizure and diagnosis, but I was really moved by the things Tess felt and went through. Her anxiety about getting back in the water. Her frustration with her parents over their fear and shifting boundaries. All that resonated with me.

Her relationship with Charlie was maybe the weakest pull into the story for me. I enjoyed the relationship between them, and I especially liked the lightness it brought. It just didn’t add the value to the book that I expected, I guess? I don’t know if that makes sense. I liked the arc of the relationship, though.

All in all, I liked the book. I think readers looking for books about sports, especially girls in sports, or books featuring a main character with a disability should check this one out.

Content Notes for Breathing Underwater

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Tess has a seizure and later receives a diagnosis.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A girl nearly drowns during a swimming race.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a party. Tess takes a sip and decides she doesn’t like the alcoholic drink. She spends the evening with a boy who wasn’t drinking either. Later, she helps a drunk friend get home safely.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.