Play Ball

Award-winning author Carol Matas takes us—and our favourite redhead, Rosie—to Chicago in 1910, in book two of the Rosie series. New to Chicago, Rosie’s having a tough time making friends and blending in. But she hardly has time, since she’s working as an usher in her father’s nickelodeon after school. Meanwhile, her brother Abe is becoming very involved in baseball. All he can talk about is the rivalry between the Tigers, a team of German Jews, and the Chavarim, a team of Russian Jews. When the Chavarim’s best player gets hurt with only one more deciding game left in the season, the team’s in a bind—and they need help, fast! Rosie’s brother suggests that she should volunteer to take the player’s place, disguised as a boy. She has a stronger arm than most boys, after all. Playing with the all-male Chavarim is way out of Rosie’s league—and bullies on the other team and on the sidelines only make things harder. But fortunately nothing can stop this girl, not even the fame that’s coming her way. (March 2004)