February 13, 2023
Spangler (Beast) crafts a piercing meditation on fraught family dynamics, complex adolescence, and athletic meritocracy in this baseball-filled graphic novel. Ever since her mother left unexpectedly, 13-year-old Gemma Hopper has been the de facto caregiver to her younger twin brothers. Though Gemma keeps the household running by preparing meals and doing laundry, her overworked father seems solely interested in her baseball prodigy older brother Teddy, who’s set to join the under-16 All-Atlantic baseball team. School offers little reprieve as classmates use her as a way to get close to Teddy. While helping Teddy with batting practice, Gemma channels her frustrations into throwing her best pitches, and strikes Teddy out. The incident goes viral, tanking Teddy’s confidence and catapulting Gemma into the limelight. The two-toned teal palette evokes a distinctly New England setting; rust-colored accents add nuance and energy to the protagonist’s internal conflicts. Gemma’s yearning for recognition from her loved ones, and the thoughtfully characterized family’s struggles to connect amid the tumult, result in both hard-won reconciliations and painful disappointments, presenting a sympathetic rendering of a disheartened teenager navigating an unsettled home life. Ages 8–12. Agent: Mackenzie Brady Watson, Stuart Krichevsky Literary.
April 1, 2023
Gr 6 Up-Gemma Hopper feels invisible, even though she's the tallest girl in her grade, because her dad and town only seem to care about her baseball star brother, while her mom is taking time "to find herself." Meanwhile, she's left taking care of her younger twin brothers, doing all the dishes and laundry, and barely has any time to herself. On top of all that, she must play pitcher for her brother's batting practice. When she's given an assignment to write about her family tree, she doesn't know what to do because her maternal grandparents are no more present than her mom. Her best friend has started hanging out with a popular girl who's pressuring her for an introduction to Gemma's brother. Under all this pressure, it's no wonder that Gemma cracks. She makes up her family history, because there's no one to help her with it. Setting the popular girl up with her brother goes horribly wrong and leads to a fight with her best friend, and she accidentally embarrasses her brother in front of a crowd when she pitches what she wants instead of easy hits. It's only after getting out of her brother's shadow that she realizes she might have some baseball aspirations of her own. Gemma is down, but never out. Spangler crafts a story any middle schooler will understand, weaving together the troubles of Gemma's daily life into an intriguing graphic novel that kids will want to read. The distinct art style conveys Gemma's tendency to curl in on herself, and the palette changes to show when she's giving herself a hard time on the mound. VERDICT A good purchase for libraries.-Stacey Shapiro
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 24, 2023
Grades 4-7 Teddy Hopper feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, as he is already being scouted for a career in professional baseball. But in his shadow is his sister, Gemma, who must put her own baseball dreams aside in order to keep her family afloat after their mother leaves, while also navigating the awkwardness of middle school. Gemma and Teddy's complicated relationship makes the piece shine. Instead of the normal "fix everything at the end" approach that most middle-grade or YA novels do, Spangler's graphic novel has the siblings repair and damage their relationship repeatedly over the course of the plot, making their relationship feel very honest and realistic. Her artwork, rendered in black ink lines with aqua washes, is equally genuine, capturing all the complex emotions and feelings that Gemma is going through in body language and facial expressions, while also making the many action scenes involving baseball riveting and engaging. A surprise hit for fans of sports comics and family dramas alike.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.