Girls' basketball gets off to a rocky start at an Indiana high school in the wake of Title IX.Basing his debut graphic novel on a true story, Tavares follows a small group of enthusiasts and their resourceful art teacher who moonlights as the girls' basketball coach, from tryouts that are shuffled off to the elementary school's gym through dogged practices and hard-fought games all the way to the 1976 state championship. Both the art and the plot are spare and cleanly drawn-the former featuring spacious compositions and easy-to-follow action both on and off the boards. The latter focuses on the friendship that develops between Judi and her teammate Lisa as the Lady Bears ("Why is it always Lady Bears?" a teammate complains, "nobody ever calls the boys' team the Gentleman Bears"), lacking even jerseys until late in the season and riding to away games in their coach's uncle's RV because no bus has been authorized, gradually build a following. They ultimately earn a public apology from the dismissive athletic director and, reuniting during a college break three years later, have the satisfaction of seeing the bleachers in their old high school well filled for a girls' game. Like the overtly sexist attitudes, which get light but firmly visible exposure, the artist suggests his cast's racial diversity rather than highlighting it through differences in skin tone and hair texture.A winning tale, all the more exhilarating for its links to history. (author's note) (Graphic fiction. 8-12)

Gr 6–8 —Set in 1975, this graphic novel finds Wilkins High senior Judi setting aside her cheer captain pom-poms to follow her dreams of being a basketball player. Judi tries out in secret, afraid of her best friend's opinion. However, with only eight girls showing up to tryouts, they all make the team. This new team is enthusiastic despite barriers: they have to practice in the elementary school gym and use an RV camper to travel; the head coach reports there wasn't money in the school's budget to support the team equally. Still, the Lady Bears (which one character correctly points out as sexist) rack up victory after victory, advancing to the state championships. By the end of the story, as the Bears travel to play their final winning game, family, friends, and community members have taken notice and support the team. Tavares based this story on the real players of the 1976 Warsaw High School girls' basketball team. Title IX passed into law nearly four years prior, prompting a slow rollout of girls' athletic programs across the U.S. This graphic interpretation of Tavares's research, including interviews with team members, makes for an outstanding historical fiction depiction of this very real struggle. These obstacles could feel like problems of the past if it were not for Tavares's well-constructed dialogue, attention to character dimension, and well-paced storytelling. Tavares draws 1970's denim bellbottoms, feathered hair, and rotary phones with finesse. It is heartening that readers are finally getting more high-quality girl-centered stories from that era. VERDICT This graphic novel depicts Title IX history in a fun and relatable way, giving modern readers a lot to recognize from their current teen experiences.—Jennie Law