From the Publisher
"Filled with heart, this tale brings to life outspoken and determined Maria, her love for baseball, and her multicultural community and their challenges and triumphs. A loving look at a slice of American life new to children's books." — Kirkus Reviews
"This historical sports story will appeal to many elementary-aged students and provides a rich basis for a discussion of prejudice and the importance of standing up for one's beliefs." — School Library Journal
"A testament to the power of family, identity, faith and one girl's strong drive for fairness. At the same time, it also shows us how difficult it is to evoke change, especially in the face of the twin forces of racism and sexism. . . . Readers will see in Maria a hero, not only for her own time, but for all time." — Newbery Honor Winner Kathi Appelt, author of The Underneath
"This timely, important, superb novel made me cry, laugh out loud, and burn with anger at injustice. . . . A must-read for youngsters and adults alike." — Anjali Banerjee, author of Maya Running, Looking for Bapu and Seaglass Summer
"A refreshingly different WWII story for middle-grade readers, with a empowering protagonist at its heart." — Booklist
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)
Amelia Bloomer Book List - American Library Association (ALA) CCBC Choices - Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Freeman Book Award for East and Southeast Asian Children's Literature - National Consortium for Teaching About Asia United Women in Faith Reading Program - United Methodist Women
School Library Journal
06/01/2017
Gr 3–5—All fifth grader Maria Singh can think about is playing baseball. She confronts many challenges in pursuit of this dream, from convincing her father to let her wear shorts to getting the city council to approve a baseball field for her neighborhood. Maria is part of a community of families in World War II—era California. Many of the fathers in this community emigrated from India and married Mexican American women. Maria begins to see how much the institutionalized racism and individual prejudice they face weigh on her parents. Characters are well developed, and relationships are richly complex. Even the local mean girl becomes sympathetic as Maria learns that she and her family are being discriminated against because of their German ancestry. Krishnaswami skillfully handles issues of racism and sexism in a realistic and age-appropriate way. Although the cultural setting is very well defined, sometimes the historical background information can feel wedged into the story. However, this is a minor flaw, and Maria's realistic challenges and passion to play ball will keep young readers engaged. VERDICT This historical sports story will appeal to many elementary-aged students and provides a rich basis for a discussion of prejudice and the importance of standing up for one's beliefs. Recommended.—Gesse Stark-Smith, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
Kirkus Reviews
2017-03-29
Krishnaswami offers a peek into the life of Maria Singh and her loving family in Yuba City, California, in 1945. Maria, her younger brother, Emilio, and the rest of her close-knit brown-skinned community are adha-adha ("half and half"), with fathers from India (mostly Sikh or Muslim) and mothers from Mexico. The book details a realistic merger of the two cultures, with church and gurdwara (Sikh temple), curry and tortillas, as they confront prejudice and discrimination. With baseball plays running in her head like a baseball announcer's, the fifth-grade protagonist longs to play softball on the first-ever girls team in Yuba City, and, encouraged by her white teacher/baseball coach, she speaks out at the county board meeting to save their sole baseball field. Maria's struggles at home and at school are contextualized with period details, as this community lives with the many restrictions placed upon them by World War II and with the laws that discriminate against them. Fighting unfair American laws that bar her immigrant father from citizenship and owning property, Maria is spurred to find a solution that allows them to buy the land her father has been managing for years. Occasional words in Punjabi and Spanish are easy to decipher in context. Filled with heart, this tale brings to life outspoken and determined Maria, her love for baseball, and her multicultural community and their challenges and triumphs. A loving look at a slice of American life new to children's books. (Historical fiction. 9-13)
