The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner

Young Llama Thoughts
  • Adventurous
  • Christian Friendly
  • Easy Reading
  • Humerous
  • Youth Appropriate
Overall
4.3 Llamas

Review

This book was sent to me by Baker Book House, and it is the perfect read for the 4th of July week!!! (And can we just take a moment to admire the cover!?! Talk about gorgeous! I do love cover art.)

This book is about 2 sisters. The older one, a baseball player dreaming about the day she can play for the Sweet Peas Women’s Baseball team. The younger one, a girl entering her teens and dying to grow up, is still trying to find her place in the world. When their famous author father is accused of being part of the Communist Party, their life starts to fall to pieces. Losing friends, dreams and hopes, the sisters soon find out that being All-American isn’t just a title but a life-style of bravery and commitment through the hard times.

This book was amazing. I love the focus on family and hope, and I think it is just beautifully written! It is very clean, with only some talk on dark things, like being alcoholic, losing loved ones, and being attacked and shunned. There isn’t any violence that is described. Mostly property getting vandalized and people refusing to sell to certain others. Some people get chased but other than that, the most violent thing is getting bruised from baseball.

The only other part of the book that I should “warn” you about is that there are some sad parts. Mention of death, losing friends and family, and such like that. (I did boo-hoo at a few chapters.) However the rest of the book is very uplifting.

Over all, this book is a winner to me! I loved the hope and love written though-out the story and I totally suggest it to girls 16 and up. If you love baseball and a book about being All-American this is the book for you! -The Young Llama Reader.

Pros

  • An amazing story about freedom and hope!
  • Super clean and great for girls 16 and up!
  • Such a beautiful book!!!

Cons

  • Some sad parts…
  • Some mention of violence…

Two sisters discover how much good there is in the world–even in the hardest of circumstances

It is 1952, and nearly all the girls 16-year-old Bertha Harding knows dream of getting married, keeping house, and raising children in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Bertha dreams of baseball. She reads every story in the sports section, she plays ball with the neighborhood boys–she even writes letters to the pitcher for the Workington Sweet Peas, part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

When Bertha’s father is accused of being part of the Communist Party by the House Un-American Activities Committee, life comes crashing down on them. Disgraced and shunned, the Hardings move to a small town to start over where the only one who knows them is shy Uncle Matthew. But dreams are hard to kill, and when Bertha gets a chance to try out for the Workington Sweet Peas, she packs her bags for an adventure she’ll never forget.

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