In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle

Blais, Madeleine. In these girls, hope is a muscle. New York, NY: Warner Books, 1995.

Barnes & Noble Annotation:

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist tells the story of a high school girls' basketball team's championship season and their fierce, funny, sisterhood-is-powerful quest for excellence. Reminiscent of A Sense of Where You Are and Friday Night Lights, Blais's book takes readers through an incredible season of the Lady Hurricanes of Massachusetts.

Awards and Honors:

• National Book Critics Circle Award, 1995 Finalist in General Nonfiction
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 1996
• ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 1999 Good Sports

Review:

Publishers Weekly, January 1996

When Pulitzer Prize-winner Blais pokes gentle fun at Amherst, Mass., where an infuriated teen-aged athlete in the heat of the fray may yell, "You ignore your inner child!" you suspect this will be a special book. And it is, as the reader follows the Amherst High girls basketball team-the Lady Hurricanes-in the 1992-93 season, from game one on December 15 to the final game on March 16, when they all but obliterated Haverhill, 74-36, to win the state championship. While this is the story of well-bred, upper-middle class, genteel girls who learned to be tough, it is also a picture of a changing period in American sports history, when a town rallied around its female athletes in a way that had previously been reserved for males. Alternately funny, exciting and moving, the book should be enjoyed not only by girls and women who have played sports but also those who wanted to but let themselves be discouraged.

Collection Suggestion:

While the story of this team would appeal to readers of all ages, the story may drag at points for younger readers when the author goes into detail about Amherst, MA, the hometown of the hometown team. For this reason, I would recommend it to high school librarians but not necessarily middle school librarians. That said, this book begins to fill a huge void of decent literature about female athletes so even middle school librarians might consider the book if they have students who might not want to wait until high school.

Let Me Play : The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed The Future of Girls in America

Blumenthal, Karen. Let Me Play : The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed The Future of Girls in America. New York: Antheneum Books, 2005.

Teammates Blogger Annotation:

Blumenthal shows readers what life was like for girls before Title IX, not only in terms of school sports but academics and extra curricular activities as well. Along with visual aid like political cartoons of the time, government bureaucracy as never been so interesting as Congressional committees find a way to let girls play.

Awards and Honors:

• Jane Addams Children's Book Award, 2006 Winner Books for Older Children
• Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, 2005 Recommended
• Society of School Librarians International Book Awards, 2005 Honor Book Social Studies - Grades 7-12

Review:

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 1))

The history of the small but wildly influential amendment known as Title IX receives a thoughtful, enlightening and inspiring treatment from the Sibert Honor-winning Blumenthal. Her narrative begins with the story of Donna de Varona, the Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer who watched her male colleagues receive swimming scholarships to college even as her own career abruptly ended. From this miscarriage of justice to the present, the text compellingly lays forth both the legislative fight to enact Title IX and the struggle to interpret the rules subsequent to its passage. Although the revolution Title IX created on the sports field gets the majority of the attention, the author is quite clear in detailing the overall educational advances women were able to make thanks to Title IX. This really splendid story receives absolutely criminal treatment from the designer, however, allowing page turns and sidebars to split sentences over whole pages, resulting in a sadly fragmented effect. Magnificent backmatter, including a time line, "then and now" comments from key players, extensive source notes, and suggested resources for further information, complement the narrative in making this a nearly perfect book, were it not for the execrable design. 2005, Atheneum, 160p, $17.95. Category: Nonfiction. Ages 10 and up.

Collection Suggestion:

This is another book that many reviews suggested for readers as young as 5th graders, all the way through 12th grade. While many aspects of the book might make it appealing to such young readers, such as the use of pictures and stories from female students before Title IX, a large chunk of the book is about the Congressional process of passing and then interpreting this ground breaking legislation. Middle school libraries could add this as a reference book so as to expose students to what the educational system once looked like. Otherwise, they probably will not have much interest in how Title IX was passed and implemented until high school government class.

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The Commercial that Inspired the Title ...

Don't Blame Me

Robins, Eleanor. Don't Blame Me (Carter High Chronicles). Grand Rapids: Saddleback Educational, Inc., 2004.

Children's Literature Review Annotation:

Jane's friends try to help when her quick temper results in her being kicked off the volleyball team.

Part of the Carter High chronicles.

Tell Me If the Lovers are Losers

Voigt, Cynthia. Tell Me If the Lovers Are Losers. New York: Fawcett, 1987.

Children's Literature Review Annotation:

In 1961 at a college for academically gifted women, three roommates who differ substantially from each other are brought together by a common interest in volleyball.

All You've Got

Hoeffner, Karol Ann. All You've Got. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005.

Children's Literature Review Annotation:

Golden girl Lauren is Villa Madonna Academy's star volleyball player and leader of the Madonnas. Spitfire Gabby leads the Reinas at archrival school Scared Heart. Both girls and teams spart mad skills on the court. The competition is killer. But a twist of fate merges the Madonnas and the Reinas into one school. And one volleyball team. Now there's more at stake than winning or losing -- the girls will have to battle just to make the cut.