Baseball story for girls

‘Play Ball’ is all about baseball. Do not let that put you off; the reader does not need that much knowledge of the game to enjoy this graphic novel. It tells the story of 2 sisters who move to a new school, one is your typical boy mad girl, the other is a total tomboy who loves baseball. In America, girls play softball not baseball, I think it’s the same problem that girls’ football used to have. So the tomboy decides to play baseball, against all rules and conventions. In doing so, she makes everybody’s’ lives more difficult.

The artwork is very clear, and is in the form of line drawings. This book did remind me somewhat of the old Bunty style stories, and that is not a bad thing. The non-colour aspect could put some younger readers off the book.

This is an equality story that also touches upon the value of teams and what happens when parents split up. So if you want a girl power story for teenagers then this is the graphic novel to read. It could be aimed at younger readers but there is the odd mild bad language that could upset parents. I’m not sure whether boys would like it, but it could be a good reading group book to get young people talking about the issues it touches.