I will not be finishing this book after reading about 20%. I will record it as DNF.

This book was supposed to be about Effa Manley, managing a Negro League Baseball team, and the only female in the Baseball Hall of Fame. At 20% of the book, I expect to hit the topic of baseball head-on (pun intended). So far, Effa has gone to a World Series Yankees game with a friend with only passing mentions of the Negro League.

I really enjoyed Effa at the start of this book. She is a strong character and I enjoyed getting to know her background, and passions. However, the baseball aspect of this book took forever to get to. Once we did get there the book seemed to fizzle out a bit. The strong Effa portrayed in the first half of the book got lost under all the pressure of helping run a team and her own personal desires, which took precedence to all the other things she was accomplishing. This book just fizzled for me which is sad. I love historical books with strong woman who I didn’t know about previously. This book just kind of left me wanting more.
Thank you to William Marrow and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

In a League of Her Own by Kaia Alderson

Effa Louise Manley became the first and, at the time of this review, only woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, in 2006. This historical fiction highlights her high and low points, starting after she left her first husband until not long before her death at the age of 84. She was a very ambitious woman and she wanted to do things on her own, her way, but often didn't get what she wanted.

I'm afraid the story focuses on Effa's wants to her detriment. We know she never wanted kids, couldn't really see why others would want kids, and anytime a kid is seen or talked about in the story, that sight or mention is underlined by telling us Effa never wanted kids. She does have the hots for men, though, although much of the time she is actively trying to avoid seeing or talking to them since she seems to think she doesn't have it in herself to not fall into their arms and scutter all her ambitious plans for her successful future. Effa wants fame, fortune, notoriety, high social standing, and power and a man would hold her back from those things, according to Effa. Her first marriage was proof of that since her husband wanted her to be a traditional wife.

Still, it seems to me that her second husband, Abe, was the stepping stone to what she wanted. He had the money and power to get things done. Effa asked no questions since she was sure her husband's money was ill gotten and she didn't want to know its source. Early in her marriage to Abe, Effa was active in the Civil Rights Movement and fought for fair working conditions for the Black community. But when her husband bought a Negro Leagues baseball team he appointed Effa the team's business manager and she had no more time to focus on her social climbing goals or activist roles outside of baseball. Still, she accomplished much through baseball and what she could do for the players, fans, and employees connected to the business of baseball.

I was able to read this book with my friend, DeAnn, and there was much to discuss. I did venture out of the book to do some research on Effa and I think I like reading the facts about her more than the fictionalized version of her. In this story she seems like a sex starved teen at times, such as any time a man is around. She was a beautiful woman surrounded by healthy athletes and there may have been rumors of affairs but it's not clear whether they ever happened. Much of her background is shrouded in mystery and Effa may have even encouraged the mystery throughout her life. Overall, I wasn't satisfied with the way her story is told here, I don't know how to explain it exactly, but I would have rather the story stuck more to facts and less to conjecture.

Thank you to William Morrow | William Morrow Paperbacks and NetGalley for this ARC.

ffa Manley knew she was destined for more than working in someone else's store - she was meant to be the boss. After marrying her second husband, she began to climb Harlem's social ladder. She quickly makes her name as a civic leader and then her husband buys a baseball team in the Negro League. Effa quickly shows herself as a no-nonsense boss who always does right by her team. Thank to her hardwork, she becomes the first, and still only, woman inducted into the baseball hall of fame.

I'm starting to understand that some of the most interesting women in history are those who are never discussed. Effa was a firecracker for sure but she was also exceptionally bright. She was a born leader. That being said, I felt some of the story, if true, should have remained private. I just don't see how writing about her and her husband's bedroom arrangements mattered in the course of the story. I liked the story of her life and widh I'd learned of her soon.

I really have mixed feelings about “In a League of Her Own” by Kaia Alderson. On one hand, I strongly believe that more stories about the Negro Baseball League should be known, especially the unsung heroes and stories. On that point, this book fulfilled that hope. I also believe that there are many stories of the “unsung female heroes” of baseball - not only wives supporting husbands pursuing their passions but also, as the saying goes, “the women behind the men” who did the logistics especially during the early days of baseball. In that way, this book also fulfilled that hope. I knew a little bit about Effa Manley before reading this book, so I was hoping this book would give me more information. In some ways it did - I didn’t know about her pushing for rights for women (from creating jobs to just basic rights) or how passionately she believed about equal treatment for the players in the game of baseball (and, more accurately, the game of life). What I found disappointing was how - for lack of a better word - awkward parts of this book came across. Effa “falls in love with baseball” the moment she catches a home run ball — after complaining about the game, being at the game, etc. - but when all eyes were on her when she caught the ball, then she fell in love. Was it the attention? Also, there’s a play (Shuffle Along) mentioned a number of times - not a big deal, but every time the reader is reminded it was an all-Black Broadway play. Important for audiences to know - yes, of course as it was the first and inspired interest in all Black musicals - but it felt like Ms. Alderson couldn’t refrain from repeating those facts along with the name of the play. I also hoped this book would include a bit more baseball than it did - especially with that title - baseball does happen throughout the story, but it comes in small doses until about half-way through the book. There’s a lot of simplistic language and a lot of telling, not showing - could this possibly be for a YA audience? So, I’m on the fence about how I feel after reading this book. Yet I do feel that Effa Manley’s story should be one people know, so even a glimpse into her life is worth a read. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because I do think this is a subject people should know about, even if they look at online sources for more information.

Reviewing Effa Manley's Narrative in 'In a League of Her Own

I was immediately drawn to In a League of Her Own as I recently came across the story of Effa Manley and her role in the Negro Leagues. It is promising to see a fictionalized version of her story is now being told to a broader audience. Alderson’s strength in her novel is her inclusion of various historical developments of the period, including civil rights protests in Harlem. I found several inconsistencies within the text, however. For example, in Effa’s conversation with Avis, her friend, their opinions swap on her role in baseball without adequate explanation of that progression. Additionally, the portrayal of financial instability during World War II is contradicted just a few sentences later with claims of high profits. The dialogue is straightforward and simplistic and so may lean towards a younger audience Despite this, the novel delves into mature themes that may surpass typical young adult expectations. Overall, there is a story here that should be told and this narrative opens that door.


I am grateful to NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for providing me with an advanced reader copy of Kaia Alderson’s In a League of Her Own.

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow for the copy of In A League Of Her Own by Kaia Alderson. What a stunning book. I had never heard of Effa Manley and this book did a great job of introducing her to me. I’m not a baseball fan anymore and I was glad there wasn’t too much baseball, just some anecdotes about the players and the travails of owning a baseball team in the Negro Leagues. Effa was a force of nature and I loved how smart and independent she was. If you want a beautifully written book with a compelling story and great characters, this 5-star book is for you!

In a League of Her Own by Kaia Alderson was not the book I was expecting. I enjoy baseball and history, so I expected to thoroughly enjoy this book. Although I did enjoy the book, there were times I got bored. It wasn't what I was expecting;: there was baseball and history, but not much depth on either topic. This book did pique my interest in learning more about the protagonist, Effa Manley, who was a real person running a Negro League team in the 1930's and 40's. Her story is intriguing and I appreciated learning about this piece of history that is often overlooked.

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for this ARC.

Note: Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow Publishing, and Kaia Alderson for the advanced reader copy of the book. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

I had recently seen a documentary of Negro League baseball which mentioned Effa Manley, so when I saw she was the subject of this book, I knew I had to read it. This is a fictionalized account of her life, based on what could be gleaned from accounts of her life.

Effa Manley was born a mixed-race woman at a time when just the hint of black ancestry defined a person. Her stepfather was black, but her mother's ancestry is up for debate and it's believed she was the product of an affair her mother had with her (white) boss. When she moved to New York City, she lived in Harlem but was white enough to get jobs normally reserved for white women. She had dreams of opening her own business designing and selling hats.

It was at a New York Yankees game that she met the man who would be her second and most beloved husband, Abe Manley. Manley had a background as a gambler, and considerable wealth, which enabled Effa to be embraced by the wealthy Harlem socialites. Almost immediately she began organizing protests in Harlem over the businesses which catered to black clientele but refused to hire blacks to work for them.

Embracing their love of baseball, Abe bought a Negro League baseball franchise. It started out in Brooklyn, but the competition for attendance proved difficult and after just a year the Manleys moved it to Newark, New Jersey. At a time when there were few women baseball executives, white or black, Effa worked in the league office and ran the day-to-day operations of the team. She advocated for better treatment of the players and scheduled promotional events that highlighted civil rights. She also had the foresight to know that sooner or later, Major League Baseball would integrate and pleaded with the other Negro League owners to plan for that day. Her pleas fell on deaf ears.

The book tells her story based on the information available. Much of the plot is conjecture, such as Abe Manley's condition that might have prevented their marriage from ever being consummated. Much was written about her in the newspapers was derogatory, but there is no way to know what was true. There was such hostility to her both as a woman and as a black woman that it cannot be taken at face value. Alderson has done a great job of piecing together what is known about Effa to craft a story that explains how much of what was written was a product of the times as well as the hostility she faced.

I felt In a League of Her Own is a great story of a woman who defied the odds at a time when women weren't thought to be capable of accomplishing all that she accomplished. She had a better head for business than many of the men she was surrounded by. She fought for civil rights before it was making headlines. The story here is a great bit of insight into that time and what it was like for a person of color who was so light-skinned they could pass for white.

Effa Manley is a woman on a mission – she wants to be important and she wants influence. When her second husband buys a Negro Leagues baseball team, Effa gets a chance to prove herself in ways she hadn’t imagined. Being a woman of color in the 1930s, she already has two strikes against her. Having strong, smart opinions is just another way she doesn’t fit into the male-dominated world of sports management. As Effa gets caught up in the minutiae of running a professional baseball team, her personal life gets messy as she gets caught up in flirtation gone too far with one of the team’s players. Despite personal and professional setbacks, Effa’s Newark Eagles end up Negro League Champions of 1946. But will the MLB’s new integration policies threaten the success she’s worked so hard to create?

I first read “Sisters in Arms” by Kaia Alderson and was so excited to see she had another book coming out. The thing I love about historical fiction is discovering the stories of oft-overlooked people – particularly women and people of color. I enjoyed learning about the Negro League as well as the boycotts at stores that accepted Black women’s money but refused to employ them. Ms. Alderson’s writing paints her characters as the real people that they are based on – well-intentioned but flawed, smart but imperfect.

This story comes out at a significant time as the MLB has recently announced they will update their statistics to include data from the Negro League. This will shake up some of the MLB records and give attention to some of the greatest players of the time that were previously excluded due to color.

Interesting story that I never knew before. Effa is given a Negro League Baseball team to run. She puts up a fight with men and gets things done. I liked that before she gets the ball team, it talks about her civil rights among blacks, especially black women in the workforce. Enough dialogue to keep it moving.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

I really wanted to love this one. Baseball is one of my favorite sports, I'm an avid fan and watch so many games. I was so excited to read a book about its history that highlighted a diverse character and her making a place for herself within the sport. The book didn't quite deliver what I was hoping though. It had a slow-moving plot and I didn't feel like baseball itself even played that big of a role in the story. The main character wasn't very likable and I had a hard time rooting for her for a lot of the book. I wish I had enjoyed this more but it just didn't work for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this because I was so intrigued by the setting and world of that time ... but the characters were so unlikeable, and the action was slow.

I love baseball and learning about women history should have remembered. I was so excited to read this book for those reasons, and it unfortunately fell flat for me.

There isn't much baseball, and I never understood why Effa liked baseball at all. This YA book is extremely heavy on the telling with no showing to even hint at backing up the telling. For example, the book opens at a baseball game with Effa not caring what's happening on the field until she happens to catch a homerun ball. Then we are told she falls madly in love with baseball at that exact moment. But her actions suggest she loved the attention of catching the ball, not the sport. And baseball doesn't really come up again save a few mentions until halfway into the book.

The writing is extremely confusing, which makes getting to know Effa's character quite difficult. One example: We read marrying her husband "was, hands down, the smartest thing Effa had ever done." And four sentences later, we read, "But at the same time, she was convinced that she made a huge mistake" in marrying him.

Reading about Effa on the Baseball Hall of Fame's Web site is far more informative, I thought, about what she contributed to the sport, what she accomplished and why she is an inspiration. I really didn't learn much about her by reading this book, and the lack of baseball really was disappointing to me. Plus, the YA writing and confusing storytelling made finishing the book a struggle, unfortunately. Maybe I'm not the target audience.

I received a free advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The description, title, and cover all led me to believe that the focus of this book would be Effa's role in the world of baseball. However, it wasn't until halfway through the book that the sport became a central part of the story. I found Effa a more sympathetic character during the second half of the book, as she tried to make her way in a man's world. During the first half, though she got involved in fighting for the rights of others, getting her name in the papers for her efforts seemed to be of equal importance to her as effecting change. That made it hard for me to root for her. And while baseball had a smaller than anticipated role in this story, romance had a bigger part. I did not enjoy wondering whether Effa would prove unfaithful to her husband.

Thank you to William Morrow and to NetGalley for the early read.

Effa Manley's story told in In a League of Her Own was one I was not familiar with before reading this novel. Alderson did a very commendable job bringing her struggles and the time period to life. While I think there are some edits that could be done to help with pacing, I found the topic very interesting and appreciate this novel for diving into a less covered time and audience in history.

Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for a chance to read this book before publication in exchange for an honest review. I LOVED Sisters in Arms so I was so excited to read In A League of Her Own by @kaiawrites

At first, I thought it started out slow but in the end I really enjoyed this book and the writing. Effa was a very ambitious woman who had big dreams in a man power world. She was a woman of color who faced discrimination because of gender and race, but that didn’t stop her from accomplishing what she set out to do! She had the courage to fight for women of color in hopes of employment and fair treatment for them. It was a very empowering book and shows what the world was like In the early 1900’s as a woman.

If you love books based off real women who made an impact, read this one! Fun fact: She was the first woman to be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. 3.5/5 ⭐️

When I first heard Kaia Alderson was coming out with a new book I was so excited because I loved Sisters in Arms. I really wanted to love this book as much as her first, I mean woman empowerment and baseball how perfect? The pacing was just a little off for my liking. I'll admit I had never heard of Effa before reading this book, and I do think the reader really gets to know her throughout. That being said I felt that the book was an easy quick read and I did enjoy it. It just wasn't necessarily what I was expecting. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for the eARC of In a League of Her Own by @kaiawrites in exchange for an honest review!

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 In a League of Her Own brings a whole new love and appreciation for baseball. I will admit that I had never heard of Effa Manley, the first and only woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, a female entrepreneur ahead of her time and a civil rights activist. I am eternally grateful for this beautiful book written by Kaia Anderson so that I could have a proper introduction and deep dive into Effa Manley’s life! And what a remarkable life it was. The journey back into the past is remarkably written and gives an honest look at what was like for black people at this time. In A League of Her Own is a fantastic read and a wonderful journey through a deserving history that is not represented enough.

4.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review is posted on Goodreads and will be on Instagram well ahead of publication!

DNF at 22%

I’m not saying this is a bad book because it has A LOT of potential, which is why I rated it 3 stars even without finishing it!

I wanted to love this one so bad, especially with all of the black women power AND baseball. However, I wasn’t a fan of the pacing. I felt like things were skipped over and rushed along. The timeline jumped around a little too much for me to comprehend. I think this may just be a me thing, but I caught myself skimming the paragraphs in hopes that the plot would grab my attention. Also, what little of the romance that I read felt very rushed to me. And I really didn’t connect with the relationship because I didn’t have time to get to experience them getting to know each other.

I just don’t think I can get past the pacing issue, but I feel like this is going to be the right book for so many people!

Please give this book a shot because it’s going to be someone’s next favorite book.

Thank you to Kaia Alderson, William Morrow, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a honest voluntary review!