A Season of Daring Greatly
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Eighteen-year-old Jill Cafferty just made history. Her high school’s star pitcher, she is now the first woman drafted by a major league baseball team. Only days after her high school graduation, she’ll join the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class A Short Season team . . . but not everyone is happy to have her there.
On top of the pressure heaped on every pitcher, Jill must deal with defying conventions and living up to impossible expectations, all while living away from home for the first time. She’ll go head-to-head against those who are determined to keep baseball an all-male sport. Despite the reassurance of coaches and managers alike, a few of her teammates are giving her trouble. The media presence following her at each game is inescapable. And to top it all off, Jill is struggling with the responsibilities of being a national hero and a role model for young women everywhere. How can she be a role model when she’s not even sure she made the right choice for herself? Didn’t baseball used to be fun?
This literary and engrossing story of a young woman trying to mark out a place for herself in a male-dominated world will captivate fans of Friday Night Lights, The Art of Fielding, John Corey Whaley, and Laurie Halse Anderson.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Like the TV series Pitch, White's novel traces the dramatic ups and downs of a female professional baseball player trying to prove her worth. Jill Cafferty's plans to attend Stanford are put on hold after she gets drafted to pitch for one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor league teams. Already a media darling, Jill gains even more fame after accepting the offer. Living away from home with a host family, she often feels lonely and homesick despite having been taken under the wing of a fellow player. And there are a number of people, including some of Jill's new teammates, who would like nothing more than to see her fail. Beyond giving an insider's view of baseball players' daily routines and lives, White (the President's Daughter series) offers a credible portrait of a young woman breaking traditional gender boundaries while being scrutinized by the entire nation. Although some of the storyline is predictable, well-defined characters will draw readers in, and the open-ended conclusion will leave them contemplating how far Jill's talent might take her. Ages 13 up.
