Effa Manley Loved Baseball

She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story is beautifully written by Audrey Vernick and illustrated by Don Tate. The book tells several stories: the Negro baseball leagues and their contributions to major league baseball, a woman brave enough to organize boycotts of white-owned businesses in New York's Harlem that employed no people of color, and the first woman to be honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame for her contributions and hard work to have great players from the Negro baseball leagues honored.

Intended for the 5- to 10-year-old age range, this is a brief biography that could easily interest older readers and motivate them to learn more about Effa Manley and her work--not only in baseball, but in civil rights movements as well. Although Effa serves as a great role model for girls, it is more a story about how one person can help change the way many people think. Effa made people question what is right rather than drift along with the status quo. Don Tate's illustrations complement the prose, and add emotional charge to Vernick's words.

Whether for Black History Month or just for fun, She Loved Baseball is a great little book that concentrates on a woman involved with America's national sport. However, in just a few pages, it also covers a lifetime of achievement by one woman. Everyone can enjoy this book.
















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