From: Miriam Budin <miriam>
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 09:00:26 -0400

One of my favorite books addressing gender issues in recent years is SOME KIND OF PRIDE by Maria Testa. It involves an 11-year-old girl named Ruth (after Babe Ruth) who is the outstanding player on her Maine Little League team. As such, she is attractin g national attention and must seriously consider whether it will be possible for her to have a major league baseball career.

Testa brings many conflicting points of view to bear on the question. Is it realistic for a girl to aspire to play with men? (I know now that there have been instances of women striking out entire major league batting orders, but I didn't know it when I first read Testa's book) Does Ruth play ball to fulfill her family's dreams or her own? Why are people increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of Ruth's continuing to play? And what does she REALLY want? It's a very full picture of a young girl tryin g to cope with the different pressures placed on her gender-related decisions. We've used it very successfully in book discussion groups at my library.

Miriam

-Miriam Lang Budin Children's Librarian Chappaqua Library, NY
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Received on Sat 23 Jul 2005 08:00:26 AM CDT