MMGM- Freethrows, Friendships, and Other Things We Fouled Up

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at 

Unleashing Readers

Bishop, Jenn. Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up

Publication October 1, 2023 by Chronicle Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Rory March is used to moving around, since her father has taken several positions as a college basketball coach. This time, he's landed at the University of Cincinnati, where her grandfather used to coach. Since Rory's parents have just separated, she's given the chance to stay on the East Coast with her mother, but has decided to move to Cincinnati. When she starts school, she meets Abby Allenbach, who seems really nice. Abby doesn't play basketball, but she and Rory quickly become friends even though Abby's father is the coach at Xavier University, which is UC's rival. After Abby's father Jason refuses to shake Rory's father Nick's hand after a game, the girls think this is a very odd show of unsportsmanlike behavior, and decide to investigate. There are chapters from both girls' perspectives, and we also see the fathers' lives in the early 1990s. Nick's father is a coach, and Jason's father is often out of work and drinks a bit too much. Nick's father seems to be more supportive of Jason than his own son, which leads to some tension. The girls uncover some of this information through relatives, but go a step further. They travel to their father's high school on the West Side of Cincinnati (near Corryville; the details of Cincinnati are sometimes real and sometimes made up, which was quite fun!). There, they find that the coach who worked with their fathers has retired, but they track down 78-year-old Sister Louisa who coached them in middle school. She's still playing basketball, and Abby, who actually did play basketball but didn't feel she was any good so didn't tell Rory about it, decides to work with the nun to improve her skills. Abby is fearful that once Rory starts playing on the middle school basketball team, she'll lose her friend to Kellan and the other girls on the team. Rory has her own struggles, including missing her mom, not seeing her dad very often, and having to decide if she really belongs in Cincinnati. As the girls work through the mystery, they become closer, but also have some issues that they need to resolve. Will they be able to help their fathers resolve the issues that they faced? 

Strengths: Sister Louisa was fantastically portrayed; I have friends her age who could play a little basketball but would probably need some rest, ice, and pain reliever afterwards. Her snippets of information about half court basketball and the state of sports for girls before Title IX were just superb, especially her discussion with Abby about the debunked thought that playing sports would make girls' uteruses fall out! The second best thing about the book was the relationship between Abby and Rory. They are clearly drawn to each other, but it's not always smooth. It's possible to meet the person who is going to be your BFF and not be able to trust that person completely right away, but they work through their difficulties in a predominately productive way. Rory's problems with her parents are something I would like to see more of in middle grade literature. I loved seeing the girls want to solve the mystery of what happened with their fathers, and it actually made a lot of sense that they didn't just talk to them about the past. The rivalry between the schools was amusing, even though I really didn't know about it despite living in Cincinnati for ten years and having friends who taught at both universities. There's plenty of basketball details for those who understand them. The cover will definitely encourage middle grade readers to pick up this intriguing story. 
Weaknesses: This could have been a little shorter, especially since there are several different perspectives. My readers who like sports books sometimes struggle with stories where the plots and format are complicated. 
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, since this has strong Ohio roots! It's fascinating to read books where the city setting is almost another character, although for people unfamiliar with the city there should have been a little travelog at the back with a map and descriptions of local businesses. A must purchase for school libraries where there's a strong love of basketball! 

Payne, Leah. Less is More: Join the Low-Waste Movement
October 17, 2023 by Orca Book Publishers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This well illustrated, 48 page guide to thinking about waste and planning ways to reduce it was just the right length to hand to students to get them thinking about consumer culture and the effect that waste has on society and the planet. It has just enough information about different types of waste (food, clothing, electronic) and actionable ideas about how steps can be taken to embrace a lower waste lifestyle. I started my teaching career in the late 1980s with a school recycling club, and try to work these lessons into the library whenever possible. Cafeteria waste is especially alarming to me, and I had several students trained to bring me their unopened chicken sandwiches instead of throwing them away. Filled with colorful photographs as well as charts and statistics, this is a book I am definitely buying and suggesting to any students who seem remotely interested in reducing the waste they produce!