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PINSTRIPE PRIDE

THE INSIDE STORY OF THE NEW YORK YANKEES

An enormous home run.

The action-packed saga of the New York Yankees is recounted for young readers by an author who knows the team well.

Founded in 1903 as the New York Americans, they were also known as the Highlanders, but newspapers soon started calling them the Yankees. They were an average team, and nothing in those early years hinted at the successes to come. Then, in 1920, along came Babe Ruth in a trade that Boston fans later bemoaned as the “curse of the Bambino,” and everything changed. What followed was nearly a century of dominance that would lead to 40 American League pennants and 27 World Series championships. Their story is told in mostly chronological order, focusing on the personalities and actions of owners, managers and players who were key figures, from “Wee Willie” Keeler all the way to Derek Jeter. Keeping the young audience in mind and employing a conversational tone throughout, Appel incorporates each era’s customs, slang and wider events into the narrative seamlessly via brief parenthetical explanations and comparisons. There are familiar stories and some fascinating behind-the scenes information. Championships and superstars are here, of course, but so are the long gaps without a pennant and players involved with steroids. This is a work that will be shared by young readers and their baseball-loving parents and grandparents.

An enormous home run. (foreword, statistics, reading list, index) (Nonfiction. 9-16)

Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4814-1602-3

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014

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PLAY LIKE A GIRL

A sincere, genuine, and uplifting book that affirms the importance of being true to yourself.

Middle school drama hits hard in this coming-of-age graphic memoir.

Natural competitor Misty has faced off against the boys for years, always coming out on top, but now they’re moving on without her into the land of full-contact football. Never one to back away from a challenge, Misty resolves to join the team and convinces her best friend, Bree, to join her. While Misty pours herself into practicing, obviously uninterested Bree—who was motivated more by getting to be around boys than doing sports—drifts toward popular queen bee Ava, creating an uneasy dynamic. Feeling estranged from Bree, Misty, who typically doesn’t think much about her appearance, tries to navigate seventh grade—even experimenting with a more traditionally feminine gender expression—while also mastering her newfound talent for tackling and facing hostility from some boys on the team. Readers with uncommon interests will relate to the theme of being the odd one out. Social exclusion and cutting remarks can be traumatic, so it’s therapeutic to see Misty begin to embrace her differences instead of trying to fit in with frenemies who don’t value her. The illustrations are alive with color and rich emotional details, pairing perfectly with the heartfelt storytelling. The husband-and-wife duo’s combined efforts will appeal to fans of Raina Telgemeier and Shannon Hale. Main characters present as White; some background characters read as Black.

A sincere, genuine, and uplifting book that affirms the importance of being true to yourself. (Graphic memoir. 9-13)

Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-06-306469-0

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022

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EXCLUSION AND THE CHINESE AMERICAN STORY

From the Race to the Truth series

Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality.

An examination of the history of Chinese American experiences.

Blackburn opens with a note to readers about growing up feeling invisible as a multicultural, biracial Chinese American. She notes the tremendous diversity of Chinese American history and writes that this book is a starting point for learning more. The evenly paced narrative starts with the earliest recorded arrival of the Chinese in America in 1834. A teenage girl, whose real name is unknown, arrived in New York Harbor with the Carnes brothers, merchants who imported Chinese goods and put her on display “like an animal in a circus.” The author then examines shifting laws, U.S. and global political and economic climates, and changing societal attitudes. The book introduces the highlighted people—including Yee Ah Tye, Wong Kim Ark, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and Vincent Chen—in relation to lawsuits or other transformative events; they also stand as examples for explaining concepts such as racial hierarchy and the model minority myth. Maps, photos, and documents are interspersed throughout. Chapters close with questions that encourage readers to think critically about systems of oppression, actively engage with the material, and draw connections to their own lives. Although the book covers a wide span of history, from the Gold Rush to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the Covid-19 pandemic, it thoroughly explains the various events. Blackburn doesn’t shy away from describing terrible setbacks, but she balances them with examples of solidarity and progress.

Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality. (resources, bibliography, image credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: March 26, 2024

ISBN: 9780593567630

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024

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