In TRYOUTS by Sarah Sax, Al loves baseball & tries out to be the first girl on the school’s championship contender team. After being selected for the team, she makes waves when a local news report singles her out and the team struggles to work together after Al’s turn in the spotlight. Will the team be able to recover and work together to achieve their goal?

Tryouts is a tale of teamwork and finding your place that will interest middle school readers beyond sports fans. It also addresses the contemporary issues around gender equality in sports that continue to play out. Fantastic artwork and a fun subplot about the school’s mascot round out this sports themed graphic novel with a positive message for all readers. I think this follow up to PICTURE DAY will be popular in my school's media center collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC to read and review.

Alexandra "Al" Olsen loves everything about baseball. She just wants to keep playing. She tries out for the Brinkley baseball team and makes it, Although the girls' basketball team has an undefeated season, Al's inclusion on the baseball team becomes a news story, dividing the nascent baseball team and putting even more pressure on them to earn another consecutive championship. Always realistic and empathetic, Sarah Sax nails middle school and gives middles schoolers hope.

I really enjoyed this story! It's a great story for kids about teamwork, friendship, and being yourself. I love the friend group and how they support each other. Al is a great main character and models how to be a kind, thoughtful, and observant middle schooler. The book brings up important issues and conversations that make great talking points with my own child as well. This is our intro into the series and we will seek out the first now and keep an eye out for more.

I was glad to be back in the world of The Brinkley Yearbooks series. While the reader gets to see some familiar faces, this particular book focuses on Al. I think that many kids will be able to relate to the events in this book. I really liked the message about people not being defined by only one characteristic. I think the author did a great job of expressing realistic challenges that kids face when trying to join a new club/team. I love the artwork style. This series if perfect for readers that enjoy graphic novels with realistic stories.

I love Tryouts! I appreciated the discussion of sexism in Sports. The graphics were bright and text was easy to read.

The Tryout would be a great addition to a school library! The kids are always asking for more sports books and specifically more sports graphic novels! I love the messages about women’s sports coverage as well. This book does a great job of showing how it can be hard to find your place and find your way in middle school, but never lets up on the hope aspect of it!

Fantastic addition to the Brinkley Yearbook series! Tryouts is perfect for middle grade readers who love sports! This title can be read as a stand alone or with the first title (Picture Day). Recommended for all middle grade graphic novel collections.

Superb follow-up to Picture Day, which I also really enjoyed. Sax is doing a great job at taking this series in unexpected, refreshing directions. I appreciated the cameos of characters from the first book, but I also really loved Al as the main character. Themes of personal improvement, trying new things, gender equality, and teamwork are well communicated. A winner!

TW: misogyny

Loved this book! Definitely greatly needed since there are a lot of readers asking for sports books!

Welcome Back!

I really love reading graphic novels and manga. There is just something so fun about diving into these stories and just getting to enjoy them alongside images that help to represent the characters, settings, situations, and more. Recently I picked up a graphic novel E-ARC (thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest review). I had no idea when I decided to pick this one up there was a graphic novel before it (so now I am trying to hunt a copy down to read) but in the meantime let’s talk about Tryouts!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Al is a female baseball player but now in middle school she is not sure she will get to play anymore. They have a boy’s team but not a girl’s team. After some research performed by her friends and a chat with her family, she decides she is going to sign up for tryouts for the boy’s team. The new coach does not put up a fight and is actually very excited to have Al trying out. Al tries out and does her best, she patiently waits for the news of if she made the team, and when the day comes that the coach makes the announcements, Al learns she made the team! She is beyond excited and they are able to start the session off strong. However, there starts to be some follies when Al is recognized by the media and they cut out some items from the interview to make it appear like Al is attributing all the success to herself instead of the team. Now the team is mad and Al and Al is feeling all off. But can the team make a comeback? This is very important to everyone but it would require them to pull together to pull this off!

I absolutely loved this graphic novel. Al, her family, her friends, and her teammates were all interesting and I loved getting to be a part of their world for just a little bit. Additionally, this graphic novel’s colors pop off the page and catch your attention, they make you want to continue reading this story and learning more about Al’s journey. I am currently hunting down the first graphic novel in this series and I am so excited to get to have more time in this world. This graphic novel is coming out on May 7th! I highly recommend giving it a try!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

***Thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This was a cute second installment of The Brinkley Yearbooks series with a nice message about teamwork, exploring your interests, and finding your people. Similarly to the first book (Picture Day), I wasn’t blown away, but this is likely to be popular at the elementary school where I work.

he second book in the Brinkley Yearbook series once again tells a story about figuring out your place. I loved that this book brought to light the sexism behind girls not being allowed to play baseball and does it while also sharing Al’s story of fitting in.

This was such a good story and something I wish I had when I was a kid. I played every sport they would let me play, and I didn't know enough to push for the sports that I wanted to play but couldn't because I was "a girl". I love that there are women who stepped up and asked questions and pushed past the first NO to be allowed to play a sport that they love. This made me want to go back in time and tell my younger self that it was okay to play whatever I wanted to play and I was "allowed" to do whatever I wanted. Such a good book!

This was a wonderful look at the difference between how girls' and boys' sports get a different amount of attention and how a girl playing a boys' sport will get more attention than the all girls team who is breaking records. This is also a great look at how having the drive to improve and be a leader whether you are a girl or a boy goes a long way in helping not only yourself but also your team. I think the illustrations are very Raina Telgemeier like, which will draw a lot of kids in!

Easy read. Very powerful story but it’s one that has been told before many times. I liked the book but it’s too straight to the point, I didn’t know the MCs first name until halfway through during her interview

thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for a review!

awww this one was cute. i wasn't aware it was the second book in a series, but honestly it could be read as a standalone---the only thing i think i missed was some plot development for a side character (who was the main character in the first book!).

anyway: girls in sports! killing it! i liked the kind of divide between Sammi and Al, because Sammi really wanted the focus that was on boys sports to be directed towards her team, and Al just wanted to play her sport. I think it was really important to have that 'redirection' of attention, because the news coverage directed towards Al wasn't necessarily bad, just misguided in its target.

this is definitely a story about characters first and foremost, and it's not just a book about Al! i loved all the side characters and felt like they were very well developed (although my favorites were Sammi and Julian for sure). lets go sports! i now need a full book about the basketball team please and thank you.

Brinkley Middle School is getting a new baseball coach, who opens up the tryouts to everyone who wants to join. Al has been playing baseball forever with her brothers, and she knows given the chance she would be a great catcher for the team. Al makes the team and is the only girl, but it's not a big deal until the athletic head coach decides Al would make a great story and invited the media to their games. Already fighting to be taken seriously, Al is not thrilled to have all the attention on her and not her team. Can they all learn to work together if Al keeps getting singled out?

As the second installment in the Brinkley Yearbooks, Tryouts did not disappoint!
Following Al as she trys out for the previously boys-only baseball team, Tryouts takes the reader through some of the ups and downs of being the only, in this case, girl to do something and the pressure and attention that can come with it.

This story was wonderful and I cannot wait to add it to my middle school library collection!

I think this would be a great addition to my middle grade graphic novel shelf. Loved the messages of staying true to yourself and being confident while also being a team player. I think this would appeal to a wide array of readers due to being about sports, but also about perseverance.

Al has played baseball for years, but when she is old enough to play on her middle school team, there is some reluctance because she is a girl, at least from the athletic director. The new coach doesn't seem to mind, especially since he hopes to lead the team to its first victory in many years and is glad to have Al's expertise. Al's large family is supportive, and her mother, who is a long distance trucker, checks in often from the road. Al's friends are all trying new things; Milo, who loves to sew, attends art club, and helps revamp an old school mascot. The boys are the team have a few problems with Al, especially when there is a big television news interview with her, but in general just want to win their games. Will the team, accompanied by a new mascot, be able to recapture the glory of the 1970s successes?

This book is set in the same school as Sax's Picture Day and involves the same characters, making the graphic novel series similar to Libenson's Emmie and Friends books or Chmakova's Berrybrook Middle School collection. I enjoyed the author's note about the importance of trying out a variety of activities in middle school, and how the social aspects of sports teams are helpful even if kids aren't particularly successful at the sport. This is definitely true; my daughter enjoyed being on the cross country team even if she didn't necessarily enjoy RUNNING cross country.