Girls in Sports (J Fiction)
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compiled by Pam Standhart (pumbaacat@hotmail.com), November 1999
from contributions to PUBYAC


Older titles by R. R. Knudson - Zanballer, Zan Hagen's Marathon-
series. She has written some biographies on women sport's
figures.


The most recent one I've read is The Goalie by Susan Shreve,
doubles as a story about motherless girl whose father brings home a "new
woman".

The paperback series "Broadway Ballplayers" is a whole series,
in which each book is about a different girl or girls and a
different sport.


Jerry Spinelli wrote the book about girls wrestling -- There's a
Girl in My Hammerlock -- that is good.  Also Knutson wrote some books
about girls in sports. I can't think of the names of them now.  Hope this
helps.


There is a series titled "The Broadway Ballplayers" that focus
on girls in sports.  I bought the first two from Penworthy.  The author is
Maureen Holohan.  The bio on the back of the book say she "was a three-time
All-Big Ten selection at Northwestern University.
She was also a winner of the 1994 Randolph Hearst Journalism Award for
feature writing.  Now she is a young author who is using her writing
skills as a tool to help promote girls' participation in sports."  I have
not read these books so I can't give a personal review but they fit your
request.


A few titles I know of are:
The Girls Strike Back: the making of the Pink Parrots by
Kathilyn Probosz
(this is the first book of a series)
Forward Pass by Thomas Dygard
Winning Kicker by Thomas Dygard
Zanbanger;   Zanballer and Zan Hagen's Marathon  all by Rozanne
Knudson (out
of print, I think)
A Different Season by David Klass
Ruth Marini of the Dodgers by Mel Cebulash
Ruth Marini, World Series Star by Mel Cebulash
Dulcie Dando, Soccer star by Sue Stops (picture book)
Matt Gargan's Boy by Alfred Slote
The Hockey Girls by Scott Corbett

A number of these may not be available for purchase any longer.


I know you asked for J FIC first, but the first thing that popped into my
head was "Allie's Basketball Dream," by Barbara Barber (Lee & Low Books,
1996).  It's a picture book, but it fits the bill.


How about There's a Girl in My Hammerlock by Jerry Spinelli?  It
is a funny book about a girl who goes out for wrestling.


There isn't alot out there!  I did a sports for girls
bibliography last
year, but can't find it.  There aren't many role models in
literature for
the athletic girl.  (Of course there are the skating series like
Silver
Blades, etc....)  But here's my list of what I could think of:
   There's a Girl in My Hammerlock   (Spinelli)
   In Lane Three, Alex Archer    (Duder)
   Swish!   (Martin, Sampson)
   Zanbanger ( Knudson)   (and Zanballer & Zan Hagen's Marathon)
   Blowing Bubbles With the Enemy   (Jackson)
   Sara Kate, Superkid     (Pfeffer)
   Melissa's Medley    (Love)
   Kristy at Bat     (Martin--Babysitter's Club)
   Broadway Ballplayers   (series)
   Jojo's Flying Sidekick   (Pinkney)

and for some nonfiction there's:
   Winning Ways   (Macy)
   In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle
   Venus to the Hoop


Hi!  Have you tried the new series by Emily Costello called "Soccer Stars"?
It's about a girl's soccer team and pretty good.


J level A Season of Comebacks by Kathy Mackel is really good.
Received nominations for the Texas Bluebonnet Award.


I have in my library "Swish" by Bill Martin. It's a great book dealing with
two girls basketball teams.


A good book is The Goalie by Susan Shreve written in 1996.