Sunday Money

March 15, 2024
Grades 9-12 Claire's world is chaotic--alcoholic mother, absent father, abusive brothers--and her only solace is basketball. Yet in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the world of basketball, and sports in general, is anything but equal. The rules for women's basketball are more stifling than for men's, and having learned the latter from her older brother, Claire prefers the men's version. As she grows into a teenager, her childhood friends become interested in boys, drinking, and smoking. Claire, however, is focused on basketball and finding a world in which she fits. When Title IX comes along, the sports world begins to change for the better, and Claire's passion for the game grows along with her hope for a college basketball scholarship. This coming-of-age debut takes readers back to a time of gender inequality, when men had the advantages in sports--funding and opportunities--and women and girls, did not. As the novel stretches out over years, readers have the chance to see Claire grow both on and off the court, all during the political fight for women's equality. A great read for sports lovers.

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April 22, 2024
A teenager navigating a difficult homelife finds solace in basketball in this gritty debut, set in 1970s Brooklyn. Claire is the youngest of four and the only daughter in her Irish Catholic family reared by an alcohol-dependent mother and emotionally withdrawn father. From an early age, her brother John coaches her in basketball, teaching her how to play and how to employ her skill beyond the blacktop. Claire uses basketball to escape the trauma she experiences at home, such as her brother Bobby’s physical abuse and her mother’s drinking (“I start thinking about whether it’s a drinking night or not. My mother is not an everyday drunk.”) Newly passed Title IX provides hope for Claire’s future as a collegiate student-athlete, and this goal steers her away from following in her mother’s footsteps. Via period-typical prose—Bobby is often referred to as “crazy” or “mental”—Hill depicts a working-class family dealing with substance use and mental illness. While Claire’s choppy stream-of-consciousness narration often evokes detachment, the text is bolstered by Hill’s descriptions of the ways in which sports help Claire maintain and repair bonds, break destructive patterns, and build boundaries. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jennifer Unter, Unter Agency.

June 1, 2024

Gr 8 Up-Claire Joyce would love to play basketball all day, but life is not that easy. Between her mother's drinking, her brothers' drug abuse, and an absent father, life is about keeping everyone happy. There is also no athletic future for a girl who plays basketball in 1971. When Title IX is passed, Claire gets to dream about a future of playing college basketball. Is she good enough? In this novel told over the course of seven years, readers will become invested in Claire and her family. Although the book's focus is more on the problems within the family rather than basketball, the family dynamic jumps off the page. Alcohol and drugs are a fixture within the household, and Claire makes a choice to not partake, but others in her family struggle to make the same choice. With Claire's life being broken up into quarters, readers will feel like they are getting the chance to watch her grow up. VERDICT At times, the story stalls, but readers who stick it out will be glad they did. A general purchase for libraries.-Heather Lassley

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