Curveball

Gr 4-8–Elena Rueda lives and breathes baseball, and as the only girl on her team, her mother makes sure she trains and works extra hard. Secretly Elena longs for friendships and for time away from baseball, something she hides from her competitive mother. When Elena hurts her knee at the start of summer, she spends time with her brother Benji and his group of friends, ­taking part in live-action role-playing at a ­local abandoned lot. As Elena opens up and uses her imagination to play, she ­begins to relearn having fun without competition, while forming new and close friendships. With the help of her new friends, her fun and emotionally mature brother, and her intuitive abuelo, Elena can ­finally confess her feelings to her mother. ­Colorful illustrations will pull readers into ­Elena’s world, shrouding her feelings about baseball and competition in shadows and bringing to life the summer and the group’s role-playing world. The Spanish narrative flows perfectly with the illustrations, in dialogue bubbles as well as other formats, such as text messages. The story touches upon important subjects, such as immigration, diversity in sports, loss, and grief. Elena and her family are of Cuban heritage, with light skin, while her group of friends is diverse, including kids with light and dark skin tones.