Throwing Like a Girl »

A high school girl's life is transformed when she joins a softball team. Value of being a team member reinforced as well as teaching girls to have faith in themselves & reach for that goal.

Publishers Weekly

Mackey deftly throws out a winning tale narrated by a teen who moves with her parents from Chicago to Dallas in the spring of her 10th-grade year. In forthright, often funny first-person narration, Ella shares her apprehension about leaving her friends behind and starting at a new school that seems so different from her old. Her P.E. teacher suggests she join the softball team, which she agrees to, despite the fact that she's never played before ("I haven't played since I was a kid, but I'm pretty sure I can catch and hit. Throwing might be a problem"). The narrative credibly follows Ella's learning curve: though her on-field skills improve quickly, Ella is less successful at dealing with Sally, a popular, haughty teammate who comes from a troubled home. Meanwhile, a marriage project in Behavioral Science class pairs Ella with Sally's cute, kind brother, and she develops a crush on him. In a heartwarming subplot, Ella is befriended by a sympathetic softball star who had to quit the team to take care of her younger siblings after their mother died. Also affecting is Ella's very real rapport with her mother, whose understanding nature and perceptiveness the teen appreciates but won't acknowledge ("I can see her point. But I don't say so"). Triumphs both on the field and off bring this engaging novel to a satisfying finale. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)