Step up to the plate, Maria Singh

Title:

Author:

Krishnaswami, Uma, 1956- author.

ISBN:

9781600602610

Personal Author:

Krishnaswami, Uma, 1956- author.

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Information:

New York : Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books, [2017]

Physical Description:

276 pages ; 20 cm

Abstract:

"Nine-year-old Maria Singh learns to play softball just like her heroes in the All-American Girls' League, while her parents and neighbors are struggling through World War II, working for India's independence, and trying to stay on their farmland"-- Provided by publisher.

Conference Subject:

World War (1939-1945) (OCoLC)fst01180924

Subject Term:

World War, 1939-1945 -- Juvenile fiction.

Racially mixed people -- Juvenile fiction.

East Indian Americans -- Juvenile fiction.

Mexican Americans -- Juvenile fiction.

Prejudices -- Juvenile fiction.

Farm life -- California -- Juvenile fiction.

Softball -- Juvenile fiction.

East Indian Americans. (OCoLC)fst00901040

Farm life. (OCoLC)fst00921052

Mexican Americans. (OCoLC)fst01019072

Prejudices. (OCoLC)fst01075260

Racially mixed people. (OCoLC)fst01086595

Softball. (OCoLC)fst01124150

Geographic Term:

California -- History -- 20th century -- Juvenile fiction.

California. (OCoLC)fst01204928

Genre:

Fiction.

History.

Juvenile works.

Document ID:

SD_ILS:2270637

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Collection	Collection	Call Number	Status
Searching... Chowchilla Branch (Madera Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	KRISHNASWAMI	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Kingsburg Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	KRISHNA UM Step up	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Sanger Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	KRISHNA UM Step up	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Woodward Park Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Fiction Area	KRISHNA UM Step up	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)

Nine-year-old Maria Singh learns to play softball just like her heroes in the All-American Girls' League, while her parents and neighbors are struggling through World War II, working for India's independence, and trying to stay on their farmland.

Nine-year-old Maria Singh longs to play softball in the first-ever girls' team forming in Yuba City, California. It's the spring of 1945, and World War II is dragging on. Miss Newman, Maria's teacher, is inspired by Babe Ruth and the All-American Girls' League to start a girls' softball team at their school.

Meanwhile, Maria's parents-Papi from India and Mamá from Mexico-can no longer protect their children from prejudice and from the discriminatory laws of the land. When the family is on the brink of losing their farm, Maria must decide if she has what it takes to step up and find her voice in an unfair world.

In this fascinating middle grade novel, award-winning author Uma Krishnaswami sheds light on a little-known chapter of American history set in a community whose families made multicultural choices before the word had been invented.

Author Notes

Uma Krishnaswami was born in India and now lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Her novel, Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh , won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Uma has been nominated twice for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. She teaches in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Visit her online at umakrishnaswami.com.

Reviews (3)

Horn Book Review

Dont let it stop you, honey. Dont you let nothing stop you. Promise me. In World War II California, women like protagonist Marias beloved auntie, Ta Manuela, are working in factories, and in elementary schools girls are breaking barriers by playing team sports. Marias teacher urges her female students to join a new softball team, a game Maria adores, but which means convincing Mam and Papi to let her wear shorts and run around on a ball field. While Maria enjoys her newfound empowerment, her parents struggle to make ends meet as sharecroppers. The owner is selling his property, but Marias Sikh father cannot buy the lease on the land he farms because as an immigrant from India, he is barred from owning land in California. (By marrying him, her Mexican mother also gave up that right.) In a community of biracial children from similar mixed marriages, Maria and her friends strive to help their parents and themselves, speaking out at a public meeting to urge the county to build them a ball field and learning to fight discrimination from Anglos, kids and adults alike. In clean, nuanced prose, Krishnaswami has created a heroine with whom many children will identify, whatever their backgrounds and interests. This feminist book doesnt shy away from the political (They knew how democracy worked, how some people were allowed to be a part of it and others were not) and will pair well with other middle-grade historical novels about the struggle for civil rights. sarah hannah gmez (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Krishnaswami offers a peek into the life of Maria Singh and her loving family in Yuba City, California, in 1945. Maria, her younger brother, Emilio, and the rest of her close-knit brown-skinned community are adha-adha ("half and half"), with fathers from India (mostly Sikh or Muslim) and mothers from Mexico. The book details a realistic merger of the two cultures, with church and gurdwara (Sikh temple), curry and tortillas, as they confront prejudice and discrimination. With baseball plays running in her head like a baseball announcer's, the fifth-grade protagonist longs to play softball on the first-ever girls team in Yuba City, and, encouraged by her white teacher/baseball coach, she speaks out at the county board meeting to save their sole baseball field. Maria's struggles at home and at school are contextualized with period details, as this community lives with the many restrictions placed upon them by World War II and with the laws that discriminate against them. Fighting unfair American laws that bar her immigrant father from citizenship and owning property, Maria is spurred to find a solution that allows them to buy the land her father has been managing for years. Occasional words in Punjabi and Spanish are easy to decipher in context. Filled with heart, this tale brings to life outspoken and determined Maria, her love for baseball, and her multicultural community and their challenges and triumphs. A loving look at a slice of American life new to children's books. (Historical fiction. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Maria Singh is part of one of many half-and-half families (half-Indian, half-Mexican, in her case) residing in California during WWII. While the boys are away fighting Nazis, girls start forming little leagues, women work in factories, and every household saves every bit of scrap and grease they can. Maria just wants to play softball with her girlfriends, but tensions are high with all the stress about the war, not to mention that her father won't allow her to even wear shorts to play. This historical novel for middle-grade readers, which references Japanese internment camps and other civil rights issues of the day, has a coming-of-age vibe, as Maria becomes aware of all the grown-up problems around her as well as how those issues affect her world. While dealing with the heavy burden of her parents' expectations, she also perceptively learns about how others hide their feelings, and when push comes to shove, she eventually steps up by advocating for her family and community. A refreshingly different WWII story for middle-grade readers, with a empowering protagonist at its heart.--Pino, Kristina Copyright 2017 Booklist