This book grabbed my attention right from the beginning. I was in high school when A League of Their Own came out and happened to play softball, so I absolutely loved the movie. This book reminded me of that love. It also reminded me that I am really grateful to have been born in the era I was born in and not when these great women were born. I highly recommend!
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Having heard that Mary Pratt, a pitcher for the Rockford Peaches in the AAGPBL had just passed away at 101 - the last surviving member of that team; and having just watched again "A League of their Own", the movie she and the team inspired; the timing was perfect to read this book. These women were incredible. At a time when the nation was at war and men were called to lay down their bats and pick up arms, the nation needed this distraction. What I love about the book is that it is a true flashback - using quotes and images of the time, along with fun cartoons, it educates the reader to the value of these ladies at this time. These ladies were not just fun to watch play - they used their fine talents to convince the nay-sayers they had something legitimate to offer. It is really sad that the league did not continue, and there are some ladies playing today who can hopefully rise to the level they deserve in this sport. If they can play softball - not to confuse it as some of the men did back during this time - why can't they play baseball? This book is very empowering for women to anyone who takes the time for this quick and fun read.

Ran out of time to give it a thorough read, but enjoyed the artwork and photos when I paged through. Will look for the book to hit the library shelf to finish reading. I liked what I had started!

I miss baseball so hard right now, and this book filled some of that void for me.

The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was different than I expected. It's mostly a book of quotes from the players, the coaches, and the press.

I loved the quotes from the players! It began with little snippets that every girl can relate to! Boys not wanting a girl on their team until - of course - they started losing (Lois Youngen) or being told girls don't need baseball gloves (Norma “Hitch” Whitney).

Then it moved on to the memories of these incredible women playing baseball. At first these memories were absolutely precious, but the insights regarding their uniforms and femininity and the makeup requirements were hard to hear! I think the quotes did a good job of showing what things were really like for these women.

I loved getting insights into how tough and amazing these women were! I just wish I could have gotten more information about each of them. There were a few profiles of the baseball players, but the narrative was mostly about the league as a whole. I would have loved some background on the women and some specific stories about the women to give more substance to the quotes in the book.

Overall, though, this was a wonderful book to curl up with for an evening. I love this sport, and it's amazing to think of all of the things these women accomplished both on the field and after.

When I was a teenager, I fell in love with the movie, A League of Their Own. Before that I had no idea that women had played baseball (in skimpy uniforms no less!). It astounds me that my love did not lead me to research more about the history of the sport and its players. Fast forward a couple of decades and Orrock offers me the book I never knew I needed.

Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League has firsthand accounts (and priceless quotes) by players, managers, and others in the league. The book is much more than a romanticized look at the past, but also delves into the sexism and racism that was alive and kicking in the league. Brava!

I enjoyed reading this book but like others I was hoping for more depth. This book is a good starting place for any one not familiar with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The book is illustrated with fun cartoons by the author and quotes by the players. The book is easy to read and offers a glimpse into the league. At the end of the book are more resources for those looking for more. Enjoy

I have been fascinated by the women that played baseball during the war since watching their story portrayed in a A League of Their Own. The author of this book focuses on the way these women were treated during their time playing and after. The sexism was apparent in everything from their uniforms to their curfews and monitoring of their social lives. After the war, the women were expected to go back to their lives as they were before and many struggled with that. I really enjoyed this book and thought the author did a great job writing it.

I had high hopes and was really looking forward to reading this book, but it didn’t reach the heights I had hoped it would.

Author Anika Orrock’s two- to three-paragraph blurbs tie the book together, giving us a quick idea of whatever subject the next group of quotes will loosely address. I had hoped for more substance, and Ms. Orrock’s brief passages, while possessing a few pieces of knowledge, didn’t share enough to engage me. The best part of the book are the quotes from the players. We are treated to firsthand personal accounts of what the league was like, and what it was like to be part of the league.

If you are looking for more details about the league, there are a few books listed in the sources. I may check out one of them to find what I didn’t find with this book. To be fair, the title does say “The Incredible Women” and the quotes are the home runs of this book. Unfortunately, the rest of the book did not measure up, and essentially struck out. Three stars.

This might be the perfect gift for a tweener or young teen to introduce them to the AAGBL particularly if they’ve never watched “A League of Their Own.” Most of the story is told using caricatures of the players interspersed with a few photographs. It almost seems to follow in the footsteps of the movie.

The entire time I was reading the book, I couldn’t decide whether I found the book delightful or whether it was insulting to the players because they are reduced to being cartoon characters. Using this format prevented the author from delving deeply into the history of the incredible women of the AAGBL. So we miss out knowing more about how it felt to have men they didn’t know running their lives, from the clothing they wore to being told how to comport themselves, to being yelled at by men in the stands, to women demeaning them for playing ball in short skirts, to having male coaches.

It would have been incredible if the author had gone beyond the outline of the movie and given us fewer cartoon characters and more substance.

My thanks to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for an eArc.

This is a comprehensive history of the women's professional baseball league. The format of the book is an interesting delivery of the history of the game and the league. Having all of the quotes from the former players, coaches, and even some family members is a great method to talk about the history of the league. To hear from the players themselves is fantastic as a resource. I like that Orrock put in the effort to talk to the players and coaches to include their words in the book as we are getting closer to no longer having those people to talk to in order to hear the stories from themselves.
I appreciate the fact that Orrock progressed past the prime time of the league's playing action. That she included what all of the girls did after the war, and also how the war changed their options for jobs and education.
Anyone interested in women's history or sports history would absolutely love this book.

This is the perfect book for fans of female baseball history. It's also an ideal addition to the modern Me Too movement as it captures the sexism and other social issues that caused problems for the talented women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Reading through this book is almost like walking through an incredibly detailed museum dedicated entirely to this topic. It was quite enjoyable and sheds a lot of light on this interesting time in history.

I love this book so much! So much more than just baseball, this book deals with sexism, racism, beauty standards, and more. The unique combination of visuals with quotes from a variety of different perspectives really bring this book to life. Approachable for readers of all ages.

ARC provided by #NetGalley in exchange for review

"You have to understand that we'd rather play ball than eat.." - Lavonne "Pepper" Paire

"World War II was the really big one for my generation... Times changed, women had to leave the home and the kitchen. Now the men are coming back, you women get back in the kitchen! I'm sorry, you've opened the door of opportunity and we're not in the kitchen, we're out in the world being productive and doing other things and having other opportunities." - Delores "Dolly" Brumfeld

Oh. My. Godddddd. This book has EVERYTHING. Through a really unique, engaging and seamless interplay of visual queues and actual quotes from payers, coaches, newscasters, and press reports, this book tells SUCH A STORY, dipping in and out of individual players lives and struggles to the evolving attitude toward women playing baseball on a level that, at its peak, drew A MILLION SPECTATORS.

Neither does the book shy away from the negatives. From facing sexism in the form of impractical but ~*feminine*~ uniforms, to patronizing over-policing of players' private lives, to the struggles of players to balance their spouse's wants and feelings. There's even this eye-popping quote from Paire later in life: "I stopped talking about our league for a long time, because whenever...someone would ask me how I knew so much about the game, and I'd say, 'Well, I played girls' professional baseball years ago.' And they'd say, "You mean softball?' I'd say, 'No, I mean baseball.' And they'd do a double take and say, 'You man softball.' And I'd say again, 'No, I mean baseball.' And after I'd say it about the fourth or fifth time, they'd say, 'You mean... baseball? Like men's baseball? Like with a hard ball?' And from the look in their eyes, I could see that they still didn't believe me. You can look 'em right in the eye and say'baseball,' and they'll look you right back and say 'softball.' Well, you get tired of doing that, and I can't carry my scrapbooks around on my back."

And sexism isn't where it stops. Orrock opens a truly haunting section on the struggles of African American women to be part of this new movement with the paragraph, "For the first time, a generation of young girls had grown up watching women play professional baseball, and by the early 1950s, many other women who had also grown up playing baseball were finally aware that the All-American Girls Baseball League existed and that a career in baseball was possible. <b>Unfortunately, many of those women would never have the opportunity to play.</b>" Follows is the story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, an African American woman who showed up to an AAGBBL tryout and was turned away, after having "groen up playing baseball with the boys, just like every other All-American."

But because all of these warts are shown as what they are, part of the history, the story just resonates that much more deeply. I didn't think I was in a place where what basically amounts to a baseball picture book would bring tears to my eyes, but here we are. This book was one hell of a ride, and I'm totally buying myself a physical copy even though I rarely do so for myself anymore.

And if I, a total sportsball neophyte and committed non-interestarian feel this way about the book? A must-read for anyone who is even remotely inclined to pay attention to sports.

:I just know that I loved the game, I always loved it all my life...And the All-American League was beautiful." - Jean Faut

As a big fan of A League of Their Own, I was super excited to find this book. It’s written in an approachable manner that will appeal to all readers. The illustrations 😍 are outstanding especially the beauty guide. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this book when it gets published

Unfortunately this title would not download. It kept crashing. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review it. The subject matter was something I would've liked to know more about.