Fast Pitch

Juvenile fiction 

     "I've been playing base related ball--first tee, now soft--since the minute I could hold up a bat.  Just like my daddy.  And his daddy before him.  It's in my blood."

     Shenice, protagonist of Nic Stone's Fast Pitch, plays catcher for the Fulton Firebirds, the first and only all Black team in the 12U division of the eight state Dixie Youth Softball Association.  All eight states were on the Confederacy side during the Civil War.

     "'It's a weight no one your age should have to carry, but can't ignore,' he [her father] says.  And he's right.  Every win feels...historical."

     Shenice is carrying the dreams of three generations of her family on her shoulders.  Her father was sidelined by injury.  Her grandfather had to stop playing so he could support a family.  But no one will tell her what ended her great grandfather's career...

     ...until a much older relative she's only just met tells her Greatgrampy JoJo was framed for a crime he didn't commit which ruined his prospects.  The relative knows who committed the crime.

     It's up to Shenice to bring the truth to light and restore her great grandfather's reputation.

     Stone's second book for middle grade readers is pitch perfect.  Sports loving youngsters will find it highly engaging.

On a purrrsonal note, today's Commuter Lounge event was bear painting.  Not the real thing of course.  Little wooden ones.  I painted one to look like a star light sky and one with a rainbow for Pride Week 2023 and went around advertising.  We got a good turn out and people had fun.  (Jules)

Why bears when cats are superior and much cuter?  (Tobago)

Maybe our mascot.  We are Black Bear Nation.  (Jules)

Why a bear mascot?  Cats are superior and much cuter.  Black Cat Nation has much more pizzazz.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all who painted bears.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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