1) This cover is everything!!!
2) Black Girl Magic meets The Sandlot!!!!!! (Squeal)
3. History mystery.

Nic Stone is amazing! And I want to know if I can read this and watch the Sandlot for my next Narrative Unit??!?!?

There's not as much sports fiction for girls out there and this one hit it out of the park. I loved how it tied into Clean Getaway and similarly explored Black history in Atlanta, this time with a focus on the integration of baseball. My only complaint is there is a plot problem when Shenice's phone dies in the abandoned house but then she is able to call her mom when she returns to the practice field, especially since no one else is there. Overall, a great read!

This book hit a home run straight to my heart! I was leaking tears by the end because these characters made me love them and their stories so much. I can’t wait to share this one with my students!

Fast Pitch by Nic Stone was a quick, fun read. Shenice lives and breathes softball. She is on the first all black softball team in her region and they are trying to make history. Then Shenice gets sidetracked by a mystery that her great-uncle asks her to solve about her great-grandfather. He played baseball in the Negro League and was almost drafted into the MLB before he was accused of stealing a Joe DiMaggio glove. While trying to clear her great-grandfather’s name, Shenice gets more than a little distracted during softball practice and the playoff games. She does learn that some things are more important than softball, and that your friends and family will be there to help you when you need it.

There aren’t many books about softball, so this is a unique sports book. That along with the mystery and great characters made this a really great book. I would love to see a sequel in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

I would love to sit in on Sunday brunch with the Lockwood family- not just for the bacon, but for the people at that table! Shenice “Lightning” Lockwood is learning that 12 is hard but her parents have taught her to be brave and follow her heart. Fast Pitch has the very best of the Sandlot vibes with the beautiful game of softball, magic between teammates, the power of 2nd chances, and a bit of mystery from the past.
This is a book that will stay checked out from my library. It is fast paced, layered, timely, fun and there are so many things for middle schoolers to connect with in the book. Nic Stone has captured what so many of our middle schoolers are learning: softball (or any sport) is so more than a game that you win. It is being a good teammate, life lessons, legacies, good role models and the chance to be a leader. It is also tough lessons. Shenice’s softball team is an all-black team playing in the south. There is one scene when they travel to a community where they see cars in the lot with Confederate Flags on the bumpers. It is a chilling scene where even the air feels off and the girls can feel the animosity from the stands. But this is what I love about the book-- Nic Stone has written coaches who have the words to talk the girls through it. She’s created a main character who uses the fire from this feeling to “BLAZE UP” during the game despite the itchy feeling these flags give her “Like all my power and the good things about me had been instantly snatched away.” It also fuels her to solve the mystery of her great-grandfather who missed out on his career due to racism. I give so much credit to the power of Nic Stone’s storytelling - big, important and timely issues are handled and modeled so well for our middle school readers.
The characters in this book are ones I’d want my own kids and students to be friends with. The grown ups in this book give such insightful and great advice for readers to take away with them. The mystery is one I wanted to see solved. This is a book I will highly recommend to boys and girls at my school.

I loved this book! I did not realize it was connected to Clean Getaway, which is one of our Sunshine Readers in Florida this next year, so Fast Pitch will definitely be a classroom addition for my middle school students. The softball story was great since we do not have enough of those. (Any?) I thought the middle school characters were very authentic, and my students will enjoy the reasonable length and ease of following the story with just enough suspense to keep them turning pages.

Another amazing middle grades novel from Nic Stone. This book tells the story of a middle school girl who is a softball start and playing on an all black softball team in the south. The novel shows the racism that her and her teammates face and the pressure to do well as black girls in a sport that is primarily dominated by white girls. During her quest to be softball champions she realizes that her great grandfather missed out on his potential baseball career due to racism and being falsely accused. She goes on journey to figure out what happened and to clear his name. It reads at times like a mystery and is very engaging. If you read her other middle grade novel, Clean Getaway, it briefly includes the main character Scoob in the story which is a great touch for those who loved that book. I highly recommend it to middle grades audiences. It teaches a lot of history without seeming like it is lecturing, incorporates sports and is modern and engaging for young readers.

Love this one. Another fabulous read by Nic Stone. I love how she integrates history into a modern story. You can feel the emotions like you are there with them. Also in this story at times I felt like is was on the field with these girls in real time. Just amazing

Fast Pitch was a real homerun for me. I liked it even more than Nic Stone's other middle grade novel, Clean Getaway. The main character, Shenice, is competing on her all black softball team for a spot in the fast pitch softball championship. However, her focus as team captain is being compromised by a family issue. As a baseball lover, it was right in my wheelhouse. But, if you are not a huge sports fan the book still offers amazing characters, competition, a bit of mystery, and some social injustice to draw your interest. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an eARC of this upcoming book for my honest opinion. I can't wait for it to come out!

I enjoyed reading this book and I know my students will too. It captured what it was like being a middle school student and the suspense kept me reading.

Shenice comes from a long life of "bat ball" players. She stands on the shoulders of her dad, her PopPop, and her Great-Grampy JonJon.As the captain of her softball team, she is ready to lead them all the way to the state playoffs...that is until she meets her great Uncle Jack. He charges Shenice with clearing her Great-Grampy's name and reputation.

Shenice struggles with the demands of her team, her family, and her new mission to restore greatness to her great grandfather, whose baseball career was derailed by some very suspicious activities. Can she handle prejudice on top of everything else?

One of my favorite parts of this book was Shenice's team discussing the Confederate flag and how seeing it impacted them. This conversation was very well done.

Meet Shenice on the diamond on August 31st to find out if she can knock this one out of the park!

Favorite Quotes:
- "Moments like these, I want to check a calendar to see what century we're in. Certainly doesn't feel like the twenty-first."
- "No clue why some boys can't handle the idea of non-boys being good at anything athletic."

Shenice "Lightning" Lockwood is a catcher for the first all-Black team in her fast pitch softball league. At tweelve, she understands that "batball" as her brother calls it, is in her blood. Her father played baseball, her grandfather played, and her great-grandfather, JonJon Lockwood, was actually a star in the Negro League back in the 1940's, but left amidst scandal and never played in the MLB.

This story goes a little wonky after finding out about JonJon and there is a mystery to solve, although Shenice's softball practices and games are mentioned in passing. I expected a bit more sports action because of the title. Parts of this story were pretty unbelievable. For example, I'm supposed to believe that Shenice's family has lived in their house for ages (Shenice for her whole life) and she didn't ever go into the grandpa's bedroom and had no idea that the house had an attic. A 12 year old never snooping? I don't think so.

Sports themed books are not typically my jam but there is so much more going on in these pages and the tool for telling them, baseball, just really works. [There was history (Juneteenth is mentioned, Dixie states and pro-slavery elements are mentioned, and this would be a great introduction to the Negro American League). There is a family mystery that is solved by Shenice and her friends (kinda Scooby Doo meets Nancy Drew). Loved the friendships in this book and that Scoob from Clean Getaway is one of Shenice’s best friends (could have done without the love interest angle, can’t they just be friends?!). In true Nic Stone’s fashion, the book explores racism as told through Shenice’s experience (her response to seeing confederate flags at a baseball game was really incredibly written) and her family history. Loved that they were reading Monster by Walter Dean Myers in class. This book is best for ages 8-12, so nothing goes too deep and everything is wrapped up in the end, which makes for a really quick read. One thing I wondered is why the parents waited so long to introduce Shenice to her uncle. That didn’t make sense to me because the family was so about Family.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Shenice "Lightning" Lockwood is a catcher and team captain for the Dixie Youth Softball Association fastpitch softball team, the Fulton Firebirds. They are the first all-Black team in the league, which is a big deal since they live in Georgia. Shenice's father played ball but was sidelined with an injury, her grandfather played ball, and even her great grandfather played. "Jumpin'" JonJon Lockwood was kicked out of the Atlanta Black Crackers team in the Negro Southern League in the 1940s for reasons that Shenice's family doesn't quite know. The one person who does know is great uncle Jack, JonJon's brother, who is in a nursing facility and very ill. Shenice visits, and gets a lot of information from him after her father finally lets her see some of JonJon's artifacts after her team does very well in a competition. Tired of dealing with the ingrained racism in her sport and hostility on the field, Shenice is very interested in finding out what happened to her great grandfather. Investigating sometimes gets her in trouble, as when she is injured while investigating a run down house where she thinks Jack hid some things, and she still has her ball season to worry about.
Strengths: It's always good to see girls in sports, and the dynamics of a team sport are even more interesting. Add some historical information about baseball, and this is a book that will be very popular. This is also on trend with dealing with a number of racial issues, and again, bringing in issues from the past helps to highlight how far our society has NOT come. This is a good length with a fantastic cover and will be hugely popular with my students.
Weaknesses: Just one ridiculously picky historical thought: A package, hidden in 1946, is covered in the kind of plastic wrap used to cover leftovers. This wouldn't have been available at that time, although perhaps the box was covered later. The plastic is depicted later as having hardened; the roll of plastic wrap someone foolishly gave me for my first apartment didn't harden-- but after 15 years got all slimy and stuck to itself. Middle grade readers are never going to pick this up, but I would have preferred that the box have not been covered, or had been wrapped in paper.
What I really think: Fans of Johnson's The Parker Inheritance will enjoy this mixture of sports and history, and it's a great starting point for students who might get interested in researching more about the Negro Leagues.

Shenice Lockwood is so close to the softball championships. As team captain and catcher of an all black team, she hopes that she can reach victory with her team. When a visit with a relative reveals family secrets, she begins to dig into her family’s past. Will she be able to keep focus for the game?

Like Stone’s other novel, Clean Getaway, this is a fast paced middle grade story that talks about racism in the south, both in context of today and the past. Shenice is a fun character to root for, both as an athlete and an intelligent kid. This will appeal to sports fans and historical fiction readers alike.

I loved this book. I read it in two days. It had so much to keep me intrigued. Softball games, a mystery, family dynamics, and friendship were all brought together to make a great story.
My favorite part was going on the journey with Shenice as she dealt with racism. Racism in the past and the present. The author did a great job making it age-appropriate for a middle schooler to read.
Do yourself a favor, sit back and enjoy the game.

I had a lot of trouble getting into this one. I'm finding that while I love Nic Stone's YA books, her children's books fall a little flat for me. I think it's because her child protagonists don't "sound" like kids. Shenice's voice felt a little too old for her age.

That being said, while this book may not be for me, I do think it was a well written story that a lot of kids would be drawn to, and I think it's a worthwhile one to have in a collection. Sports books are very popular, and a lot of them are about white boys and written by white men. Having diversity is so important, and Shenice is a well-rounded character with strengths, flaws, and motivations. The mystery story line and historical facts are interesting as well and add a different dimension to the story. Kids who read Clean Getaway will also appreciate seeing Scoob in this book.

Overall, this was a 3 star read for me, but I'm giving it 4 stars because I think a lot of kids will like it more than I did and I do think it's a worthwhile purchase.

This middle grade book is perfect for sport lovers! Nic Stone masterfully creates a story not only about the first all Black female softball team to make it to the state finals but creates an interesting subplot of Shenise, our spunky main character, learning about her families history. If you are fans of Jason Reynolds, Nic Stone's Fast Pitch will be right up your alley. In my opinion, there aren't nearly enough books about female sports. We have plenty of male ports stories but hardly any featuring females. Fast Pitch is a step in the right direction.

Nic Stone jumped into the sports themed books for middle grade with a fierceness that shouts "NIC STONE". Fast Pitch was incredible. The fast pitch softball story of "Lightning" and her family history of baseball. From the Negro Leagues to just missing the Major Leagues because of a busted knee. There was history, mystery, intrigue, friendships, dealing with racism, triumph, failure, loss and family all wrapped into a story about baseball. Stone did an incredible job of dealing with tough topics like racism, family and death within a story line that stays age appropriate.

An absolutely excellent addition to the girls sports genre!! Shenice is a great main character, a great niece, and a great softball captain. Everyone should read this one!