Painting the Game

The late Newbery Medalist blends themes of baseball and painting with loving family and friends in this slim work—her final novel—about the daughter of a minor-league pitcher and a painter seeking courage and her own path to pursuing her dreams. Eleven-year-old Lucy’s mother explains that Lucy’s father is “trying to paint the game. Like me painting a picture. Trying to make the game come out the way he wants.” But when Lucy stands on the pitching mound, it’s “the scariest place I’ve ever been.” Determined to find the courage to overcome her fear, she secretly practices pitching in pre-dawn hours, choosing to perfect her father’s signature knuckleball. In this quiet story, everybody has a secret as well as encouraging partners: for Lucy, it’s her friends Tex and Robin, who coach her in private. Affectionate, conflict-free relationships and myriad expressions of support and respect among the compassionate characters nudge the tale toward sentimentality, but Lucy’s gentle, understated narration and persistence toward her goal keep it grounded in authenticity. All characters other than a Puerto Rican–born adult present as white. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)