NIKKI ON THE LINE, by Barbara Carroll Roberts: a Great Girls Basketball Story for Middle Grade Readers

Having been someone who was really into basketball, and having spent my life looking for good basketball stories and writing basketball stories (none published yet), I really appreciate a well-written basketball story, especially one for girls, which is rare.

Nikki on the Line, by Barbara Carroll Roberts, is one of those rare girls basketball stories that really rings true to me. It’s in all the little details of how the main character feels about playing, the descriptions of how she practices and plays, the way people shoot or pass or move down the court, the tryouts, her teammates and coaches, the parents on the sidelines, the parents at home who don’t always get how important it is, what it feels to be in her body–the burning lungs and sore, tired muscles, the sweat-soaked t-shirts… Thirteen-year-old Nikki’s observations are spot on. The author must’ve been a player herself. I still haven’t finished it, but I’m really enjoying it!

Play Ball!

Two good middle grade books for girls who like baseball or softball, both historical–one with a Depression Era Dust Bowl setting (Three Strike Summer, by Skyler Schrempp) and the other (Out of Left Field, by Ellen Klages) set in the 1950s. Both main characters are gender non-conforming but are pretty much accepted for who they are by their families (which is refreshing!), even if they get strange looks from others and aren’t always immediately accepted by the boys they play with or against, or by Little League authorities! They are each the only girl playing on boys’ teams in their respective stories. A lot of good history in Out of Left Field…