Synopses & Reviews
Drawing on written accounts and interviews with former players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, Rappaport (paired with Lewis for The New King) and Callan (a playwright) whisk readers back in time to the 1946 championship game between the Rockford Peaches and the Racine Belles. Judiciously using endmatter to relate a historical overview of the league, the authors serve up a fan's view of the game, placing a young spectator named Margaret and her family at the center of the action. "You have to be tough to play baseball in a skirt", Margaret's mother says, and it's easy to see why as Sophie "the Flash" Kurys and Betty "Moe" Trezza take the field, scraped knees and all. The final inning unfolds play by play, in potent and colorful language. Margaret, for example, notes that the Belles' victory "felt like the last day of school, the Fourth of July, the end of the War". Lewis's fluid, assured watercolors capture the on-field energy as well as the humanity of the players and their fans. Well wrought in every regard, this is a nifty introduction to one of baseball's shining moments and to the contributions of a group of outstanding female athletes in particular. Ages 4-8.
Review
"The text evokes the tension of the final moments of a close game, with Lewis' watercolors capturing the gritty on-field action and the shadowy light of a stadium illuminated on a late-summer night." Booklist
Review
"A great slice of Americana and a chance for kids to learn that women have been active in professional sports for many years." Children's Literature
Review
"With its economy of language and telling period details, this book provides an exciting slice of sports history and an appealing bit of Americana, and vividly conveys the spirit of one great little girl. Lewis's finely wrought watercolor paintings deftly capture the crowd and the action on the field." School Library Journal
Synopsis
Margaret, a fictional character, experiences the excitement of watching the 1946 championship game of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League as it goes into extra innings. Photos.
Synopsis
You had to be really, really good to play in the 1946 championship game between the Racine Belles and the Rockford Peaches. Sitting in the stands, Margaret thrills to every crack of the bat. Someday she hopes to join her heroes like Sophie "the Flash" Kurys and Betty "Moe" Trezza. As the ball hurtles toward the plate, Margaret can almost feel what it would be like to be in that batter's position, arms tensed, bat held high. As we see this historic game in the annals of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League through the eyes of a fictional young girl, Dirt on Their Skirts is a potent reminder that women athletes have inspired young fans throughout the twentieth century. Based on written accounts and on the memories of the players themselves, this exciting story is for all those sandlot sluggers whose hearts beat a little faster whenever they hear the words?"Play ball!"
About the Author
Doreen Rappaport is known for her thoroughly researched nonfiction that reads like fiction. She lives in New York City.
E. B. Lewis is the illustrator of two Coretta Scott King Honor Books, Rows and Piles of Coins and Bat Boy and his Violin. He lives in New Jersey.