In a small North Carolina town of the 1930s, the prospect of an all-Black baseball team playing a white one brings simmering racial tensions to a boil. Sure that his team would win, 12-year-old Cato accepts a proposal from a local white merchant to put it to the test. In doing so, he stands firm in the face of a lynching in the not-all-that-distant past and the ugly threat of one opposing player who goes from sneering racial slurs to leading a series of beatings and burnings. Along with creating a protagonist strong enough to exercise good judgment despite provocation, the author assembles a cast rich in people of good will who are willing to work together both to mend at least some of the physical and emotional damage, as well as to to defy the forces and legacy of hate to bring off not just that one game but the prospect of future ones. A substantial afterword informs on the Negro Leagues, including a time line and reading lists.

Headen uses baseball to explore themes of racism in this powerful debut set in North Carolina during the Jim Crow era. In 1935, 12-year-old Cato Jones, who is Black, aspires to pitch for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American League like his late father and older brother. Cato and his team, the Pender County Rangers, often skip school to practice on the new field built by white businessman Luke Blackburn for his own son’s team. Cato dreams of playing an actual game on that field, with its real bases, bleachers, and pitching mound: “I would love to see the Rangers whip the tar out of that white boy and his team right on their own fancy ball field. Just one fair game, and we could do it.” Scheduling a game against Blackburn’s son proves easy; keeping it fair, however, is not. And after the ball game triggers a resurgence of racial violence, Cato’s tight-knit Black community must rally around one another to keep each other safe. The protagonist’s first-person POV adds immediacy to this emotionally charged sports novel, making for a winning combination of action-driven plotting and underlying historical tension that will inspire discussion surrounding Jim Crow era and contemporary prejudice. Ample back matter concludes. Ages 8–12. Agent: Victoria Selvaggio, Storm Literary. (Mar.)