The All-American ~ Review

 

The All-American

Susie Finkbeiner

Bertha Harding has resigned herself to knowing she'll never master domestic skills. Her attempts at making a light, flaky pie crust - well, let's just say it is better off uneaten and untouched. Kitchen Queen in the making, she is not. Rather her skills lie in a more athletic pursuit - GASP, a girl playing baseball! 

The All-American is told in alternating chapters from Bertha's perspective and that of her little sister Flossie (aka Florence). Bertha has a passion for baseball while Flossie's is reading. Flossie finds friends in her books and actually has trouble making living, breathing friends. (I can relate). 

Though they don't really fit the expected mold of young ladies in the early 1950s, their lives are fairly happy and content. Until everything changes when their father is accused of being a Communist. They face the hate that he is now taunted with. Forced to leave their lives behind, Bertha and Flossie cling to what has brought them their greatest joys baseball and books. 

This book is an interesting read. I've read books set in the 1950s before, but I have never read one in which the characters are subjected to the judgment of the House Un-American Activities Committee. This was always just a small blurb in school when American history was discussed. I love books that can entertain me with a story while imparting a piece of knowledge. Overall a good read and one that I think is well suited to a book club.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Book:

It is 1952, and nearly all the girls, 16-year-old Bertha Harding knows dream of getting married, keeping house, and raising children in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Bertha dreams of baseball. She reads every story in the sports section, she plays ball with the neighborhood boys--she even writes letters to the pitcher for the Workington Sweet Peas, part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

When Bertha's father is accused of being part of the Communist Party by the House Un-American Activities Committee, life comes crashing down on them. Disgraced and shunned, the Hardings move to a small town to start over where the only one who knows them is shy Uncle Matthew. But dreams are hard to kill, and when Bertha gets a chance to try out for the Workington Sweet Peas, she packs her bags for an adventure she'll never forget.

Join award-winning author Susie Finkbeiner for a summer of chasing down your dreams and discovering the place you truly belong.