Nic Stone's sophomore middle-grade title, Fast Pitch, is an irresistibly charming novel featuring a 12-year-old who works hard to clear her great-grandfather's name while also taking her softball team to victory.
Shenice Lockwood comes from a long line of baseball players. Her father, Vic, used to play before a knee injury in college, and so did his father, PopPop, and his father before him, the family's "baseball patriarch," Great-Grampy Jon-Jon, who played in the Negro American League. It comes as no surprise that Shenice (aka Lightning Lockwood) is the captain of Georgia's Fulton Firebirds softball team. The Firebirds are the first and only all-Black team in the Dixie Youth Softball Association--in fact, they're "the only team in the entire DYSA with more than three Black players on the roster." The state championship is coming up and Shenice needs to focus all her energy on winning. But then Uncle Jack, Great-Grampy Jon-Jon's younger brother, tells Shenice that Jon-Jon could've been one of the first Black players in the MLB if he hadn't been framed for theft; Shenice determines to find the truth. Will Shenice be able to keep her head in the game and bring her team a win or will her detective efforts cause her to strike out?
Broken up into short chapters with accessible language for younger readers, this inspiring and funny novel is a quick and easy read that will keep readers eager to learn what happens next. Stone (Dear Martin; Clean Getaway) allows young Black girls to see themselves excel at playing sports and also focuses on determination and standing up for what's right. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer