“The All American” by Susie Finkbeiner
1950’s Fiction
Revell Publishing
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
About the Book:
It is 1952, and nearly all the girls 16-year-old Bertha Harding knows dream of getting married, keeping house, and raising children in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Bertha dreams of baseball. She reads every story in the sports section, she plays ball with the neighborhood boys–she even writes letters to the pitcher for the Workington Sweet Peas, part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
When Bertha’s father is accused of being part of the Communist Party by the House Un-American Activities Committee, life comes crashing down on them. Disgraced and shunned, the Hardings move to a small town to start over where the only one who knows them is shy Uncle Matthew. But dreams are hard to kill, and when Bertha gets a chance to try out for the Workington Sweet Peas, she packs her bags for an adventure she’ll never forget.
Join award-winning author Susie Finkbeiner for a summer of chasing down your dreams and discovering the place you truly belong
My Thoughts:
This was so good! I somehow forgot how thoroughly I enjoy Finkbeiner’s novels, though it didn’t take but a nano second to remember why as soon as I started the first page.
The All American immediately draws you in, and both Bertha and her sister Florence were fantastic characters that I loved from the get-go.
This book, as with each of the Finkbeiner books I’ve read before, gives off such a homey feel, if that makes sense. I always feel like I’ve been integrated right into the family I’m reading about, and nothing seems more natural. All outside thoughts are forgotten when I read one of her books, and I get completely swept away by the story that seems more real than fiction.
There was a twist in the book I was not expecting, and it wrenched at my heart, but it was also done in such a way that it…well, it seemed at once terrible and natural to the story. I don’t know how to explain.
But truly, The All American is a gripping story you won’t regret reading, and I loved every second of it.
The following quote made me snicker:
“Snowwhite had obviously never been in Sunday school to learn that a girl should always – always, always – say no whenever a stranger offers her an apple.”
A big thanks to the publishers for a copy of this book. I was not required to give a positive review, and all thoughts expressed are entirely my own.
Gods Peculiar Treasure Rae 