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Summary
Summary
Fast-pitch softball catcher MadCat Campione's love for the sport--and her relationship with her best friends--is strained when her team competes on a national level. Ages 8-12.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-This is an interesting story that needed to be written. It specifically deals with girls' fast-pitch softball and Madelyn Catherine, a 12-year-old New Hampshire catcher, but the themes relate to competition, parental interference in all kids' sports, and winning by any means necessary. The book has enough humor to lend a light touch to the more serious issues. The Sting has always been a good team, and the girls enjoy playing, until the board of directors/parents reorganize it in order to compete nationally. Some of the new members used to be rivals and they replace some of Mad Cat's good friends. With this change in direction, everything else changes-the mood becomes more businesslike, the games are more cutthroat than fun. Parents control the coach and decide who plays. There are fights, ejections, players intentionally hit by pitches, etc. After a bad experience at the national championships, the girls return home and several of them reassess their priorities. Their relationships are well portrayed and it is heartening to see friendships spring up among previous rivals. This book is sure to be a hit with girls who are into sports. It would be great if their parents read it, too.-Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
This is hard-core sports action--for girls. Twelve-year-old MadCat is catcher for her softball team. When some of the parents decide to make the team more competitive, old friends are dropped for more cutthroat players, the coach is replaced--and winning becomes more important than loyalty, sportsmanship, or even safety. The game play-by-play is exciting, and the story raises important issues without didacticism. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
MadCat is really Madelyn Catherine, but a star player of Fast Pitch Softball needs a tougher name. Her easygoing team enjoys winning, but they also play for the sheer joy of the sport. Now they have joined a league that has national level competitions and everything is more intense. The new coach encourages winning at all costs, including deliberately courting injury. At home, she's worried about her father who is struggling with the debilitating effects of MS. MadCat narrates her own story, and Mackel wisely allows her to be both wise and naïve, filled with fear and bravado and totally confused about the behavior of her teammates and the adults surrounding her. Some subplots appear out of nowhere and then fizzle out, but MadCat is an engaging character and many of the travails she encounters are believable and reflect some of the more troubling aspects of children's organized sports. A solid hit. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-8. Though better known for oddball fantasies, Mackel also writes rousing sports stories.Tough-as-nails catcher Madelyn Catherine (you'd better call her MadCat) is excited at the prospect of seeing the Norwich, New Hampshire, Sting, her fast-pitch softball team, upgraded into national contenders and profoundly disturbed that the change means cutting weaker players to make room for stars from other local teams. As the Sting works its way up to and into the finals, the author seamlessly weaves in parents (sensible and ruthless); family issues (including MadCat's father's struggle to live with multiple sclerosis); an assortment of resilient, generous, fleshed-out young characters; and unforced insights on what winning and team play are really about. Through it all shines MadCat's love for the sport: We were slimy with sweat, coated with dirt, and stinking like an umpire's coffee breath. But we were golden. With a credible plot, a distinct narrative voice, and sparky dialogue, this is a winner in any league. --John Peters Copyright 2005 Booklist
