Tryouts (The Brinkley Yearbooks)

by Sarah Sax (Author)

Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade
It's warm up time in this newest installment in the Brinkley Yearbook series. Will Alexandra make the cut and help the historically boys baseball team defend their 9-year championship title?

Alexandra, also known as Al, has been playing baseball with her older brothers for as long as she can remember. But when she ages out of Little League, it seems like it’s the end of the road for Al and the sport she loves. Until, that is, her friend Sammy suggests that Al try out for the middle school team—a team that has always been boys-only. 

Al is prepared to fight for her right to try out, but to her surprise, the coach is delighted by her interest. When Al makes the team, it seems like everything is going to work out. But with a tenth consecutive championship on the line for Brinkley Middle School and a team that can’t seem to get along, will their season ground out faster than Al can say “home run”?

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Kirkus

A story that will encourage readers to spread their wings. 

None

Starred Review
Rollicking and tender, this comic knocks it out of the park

School Library Journal

Gr 4 Up--Al (short for Alexandra) has always loved playing baseball, but when she starts middle school, there's a complication. While the teams have always been co-ed before, in middle school, the baseball team is boys-only. When Al learns that she has the right to try out for this team, her decision has unexpected consequences. Al gets more attention and press coverage than the other members of her baseball team, and she's even getting more attention than the girls' basketball team and their record-breaking season. It will be up to Al to figure out whether she should run away from the spotlight or if she can use it to make positive change. This graphic novel is part of the "Brinkley Yearbooks" series, and as in Picture Day, features a school setting and a strong protagonist who needs to figure out the best way to make her voice heard. This story also features several supporting characters who are "trying out" activities that fit their own personalities, such as joining the art club and even becoming a very unusual mascot. The artwork is bright and colorful, conveying energy and action but also the emotions of the characters as they each struggle to find their way. VERDICT For readers who enjoy realistic graphic novels about sports, school stories, friendship, and issues of identity.--Andrea Lipinski

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

★ "Rollicking and tender, this comic knocks it out of the park." —The Horn Book, starred review

"A story that will encourage readers to spread their wings." —Kirkus Reviews

"For readers who enjoy realistic graphic novels about sports, school stories, friendship, and issues of identity." —School Library Journal
Sarah Sax
Sarah Sax is an author-illustrator based in Portland, ME. She studied illustration, animation and storytelling at Hampshire College. Sarah has a background in arts education and she was a former Creative Director at Lumos Labs (Lumosity) in San Francisco. Sarah cares deeply about how, why and what people create (and how to foster the creative spark in those who've forgotten or are fearful to try). Picture Day is her graphic novel debut.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593306925
Lexile Measure
350
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date
May 07, 2024
Series
The Brinkley Yearbooks
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV008000 - Juvenile Fiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | General
Library of Congress categories
Friendship
Graphic novels
Teamwork (Sports)
Cartoons and comics
Comics (Graphic works)
Women baseball players
Middle school students
Baseball teams
School sports
Humorous comics
Sports comics
School comics

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