Jill Cafferty is 6’2” high school senior with a fastball that consistently clocks over 90 mph when she becomes the first woman drafted by a major league baseball team after the Pittsburgh Pirates pick her in the third round. On the Pirates’ minor league team in Pomeroy, New York, some players and others are openly welcoming, some are openly hostile, and some seem to be waiting to see what she can do. How all of these responses play out, and how Jill herself responds, is at the center of this compelling story. Off the field Jill meets sexism that ranges from subtle and stupid to vicious with remarkable presence of mind. On the field, the stress shows. Author White’s knowledge of baseball is clearly vast and these details add veracity, as does the way she balances the sexism Jill faces with support in many forms, from Jill’s family and friends back home to her steadfast catcher to the team manager who treats her like everyone else, even when it makes Jill mad. If Jill is a little too poised for an 18-year-old just out of high school dealing with incredible pressure, small glimpses of her life before show what has grounded and prepared her for this moment. Jill’s triumph is in being able to take her place on the field and know it’s where she belongs. (Age 12 and older)

Eighteen-year-old Jill Cafferty just made history. Her high school’s star pitcher, she is now the first woman drafted by a major league baseball team. Only days after her high school graduation, she’ll join the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class A Short Season team . . . but not everyone is happy to have her there.

On top of the pressure heaped on every pitcher, Jill must deal with defying conventions and living up to impossible expectations, all while living away from home for the first time. She’ll go head-to-head against those who are determined to keep baseball an all-male sport. Despite the reassurance of coaches and managers alike, a few of her teammates are giving her trouble. The media presence following her at each game is inescapable. And to top it all off, Jill is struggling with the responsibilities of being a national hero and a role model for young women everywhere. How can she be a role model when she’s not even sure she made the right choice for herself? Didn’t baseball used to be fun?

This literary and engrossing story of a young woman trying to mark out a place for herself in a male-dominated world will captivate fans of Friday Night Lights, The Art of Fielding, John Corey Whaley, and Laurie Halse Anderson.