Andrea's way with words really made this story come alive for me. Set against the backdrop of a segregated America, the story of Effa Manley shines brightly, illuminating the experience of owning a baseball team in the Negro leagues.

Though written for middle grade-level readers, this is a story that is easily enjoyed by adult readers. It is an important read that provides historical contexts for events never taught in the American school system, providing a link to parts of American history erased or otherwise forgotten.

This is an incredible nonfiction story with tons of details and lots of information! You will enjoy that it reads easily and you will walk away knowing a lot more than when you began to read it initially. Andrea does a great job providing good details as well as photographs which help you bring the story to life. A great book for a research paper as well!

Misleadingly titled, Baseball's Leading Lady is more of a general history of the Negro Leagues rather than a biography of Effa Manley. Nevertheless, it is still a very good place to start for anyone, children and adult alike, to start if they are interested in learning about early baseball and/or blackball. The Negro Leagues are often only relegated to a footnote in Major League baseball histories, especially those for children. This title deals with complicated issues including integration vs separatism and black owned teams vs the benefits of major league and more. The only downside is someone looking for information on Manley may be disappointed when it takes a few chapters to get any significant information on her. In some chapters there is only a line or two of text on Manley and then it veers off into more information on other important figures in Blackball History.

This was a great read and thoroughly researched. I went into it thinking it would be a biography of Effa Manley, but it so much more than that. I liked that I also learned so much about the Negro Baseball Leagues. I would hand this baseball fans and history buffs alike.