A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - Hardcover

Sue Macy is a lifelong baseball fan and has been a writer and editor for children and young adults for more than fifteen years. A member of Princeton's first women's softball team as an undergraduate, she is now an editorial director in the magazine division of Scholastic Inc.  She lives in Englewood, New Jersey.

Grade 5 Up-- An interesting and informative look at the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that operated from 1945-1954. Using interviews with former players, various newspaper and statistical accounts, and sound research, Macy has pieced together a book that not only tells the story of the league but also provides sociological insight into the United States during World War II and the postwar era. While the players' accomplishments on the field are documented, readers will also become privy to the trials and tribulations these athletes faced, which went far beyond the daily hassles that male professional players encountered. They included severe rules governing personal appearance and off-field activities so as not to sacrifice femininity for athleticism. Macy includes a wonderful hodgepodge of useful appendixes that include the league's rules, teams, and statistics, along with a chronology, notes on the author's sources, further reading, and places to obtain more information on the AAGPBL. An array of black-and-white photos, including posed photos of the players checking their makeup during games and plenty of action shots, further enliven the very readable text. A Whole New Ball Game is a significant title that may have to be promoted, but its shelf life will far outlast the majority of sports books currently being published. --Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.