Lizzie Murphy grew up in the early 20th century in a baseball-loving family. Lizzie was both eager to play and savvy, bargaining her way onto her brother’s team. By 15, she was playing on two amateur teams. At 18, she set out to earn a living playing baseball, despite her mother’s concern. “But it’s what I do best,” Lizzie replied. To the manager of the semi-pro team who signed her, Lizzie was a novelty who would bring more people into the stadium to see the game. But Lizzie was a good player, and she demanded to be paid the same as her male teammates. Lizzie played professional baseball for 17 years. In an author’s note at the end of this spirited account, McCully writes that Lizzie wasn’t the only woman to play on teams with and against men, but she was among a small number, and she was not only the first woman to play a major league exhibition game, but “the first person to play on the National and the American leagues’ all-star teams.” A photograph of Lizzie in uniform accompanying this note is the winning run in this welcome, inspiring volume. (Ages 5–9)

From a Caldecott medalist Emily Arnold McCully comes Queen of the Diamond, the story of the groundbreaking female baseball player Lizzie Murphy.

Lizzie Murphy was good at baseball. In fact, she was better than most of the boys. But she was born in 1900, and back then baseball was not a game for girls. Lizzie practiced with her brother anyway, and then she talked her way onto the local boys' team, first as a batboy, then as a player. Everyone was impressed by her hard catches and fast pitches. By the time she turned fifteen, she was playing for two different amateur boys' teams. When she turned eighteen, Lizzie did something else that women weren't supposed to do: she signed up with a professional baseball team, determined to earn her living playing the game.