Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
Rappaport and Callan have collaborated to bring to life the championship baseball game between the Racine Belles and the Rockford Peaches. It is told through the eyes of a young fan, Margaret, who has avidly followed the team. She is anxiously awaiting the outcome of the championship game, which is now at the bottom of the fourteenth inning and scoreless. The date is 1946 and the teams are part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that was formed during World War II. The text offers the play-by-play action, while Lewis complements the action with scenes of the women players batting, running and sliding into home plate while dressed in their skirts. These women played a serious game of baseball and, when it was over, the fans really let loose cheering for the winning team. Margaret on her father's shoulders looks for her favorite player, Sophie Kurys, the one who brought home the winning run. Margaret looked at Betty's scraped knees and muses "You have to be tough to play baseball in a skirt." A great slice of Americana and a chance for kids to learn that women have been active in professional sports for many years. 2000, Dial/Penguin Putnam, $16.99. Ages 5 to 9.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2001)
Challenges and triumphs underscore Dirt on Their Skirts: The Story of the Young Women Who Won the World Championship. Set in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1946, the story is told from the point of view of young Margaret, who goes with her parents and brother to the final game of the 1949 season of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The Racine Belles are playing the Rockford Peaches. The story opens at the beginning of the 14th inning when the score is tied at zero to zero. Margaret, who aspires to be a professional baseball player, is rooting for her home team. An avid fan, Margaret idolizes her favorite players, Sophie "the Flint Flash" Kurys and Betty "Moe" Trezza. Plenty of play-action description will satisfy today's young sports enthusiasts. Although the story is fictionalized, the details are drawn from press clippings and personal accounts of an exciting game that went into extra innings. Authors Rappaport and Callan include as an endnote the actual box scores for the game, as well as photographs of the some of the players, then and now. CCBC categories: Historical People, Places, and Events; Picture Books for Older Children. 2000, Dial, 32 pages, $16.99. Ages 5-9.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 6))
It’s 1946, and returning veterans have not yet fully reclaimed professional baseball as a male domain. The women’s baseball league that flourished during wartime is wrapping up the season with the playoff between the Racine Belles and the Rockford Peaches. In the stands Margaret and her family cheer for the home team, the Belles, and hope that Sophie Kurys, “The Flint Flash,” will help break the 0-0 tie in overtime. Although Rappaport ostensibly replays the game through the eyes of fictional young fan Margaret (who proudly compares her own scraped and scabby knees to those of her idols), the text amounts to little more than a sports-page recap of the plays, peppered with fan dialogue. Lewis’ watercolor paintings add some dimension, offering viewers a glimpse into a time when spectators wore coats and ties, dresses and heels to the dusty ballparks, and the muscular athletes in their flapping skirts slid painfully into home on exposed knees and thighs. Dyed-in-the-wool sports fans will appreciate the appended stats page, and history buffs the concluding note on how World War II influenced the development (and the demise) of the women’s league. Endpapers feature photos of the Belles and Peaches in their heyday. Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2000, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2000, Dial, 34p, $16.99. Ages 6-9 yrs.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2000)
Margaret and her family are rooting for Wisconsin's Racine Belles, who, in extra innings, win the 1946 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Championship. Information culled from the authors' note about the league's genesis would have made more interesting reading than this fictional family's generic commentary. The illustrations and photos of the players then and now will generate real excitement. Category: Nonfiction-Sports. 2000, Dial, 40pp, $16.99. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.