Fox Point's Own Gemma Hopper
(A Graphic Novel)
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A heartwarming graphic novel about a baseball-obsessed 7th grader, trying to find her place in the sports world and her family.
In their tiny corner of Fox Point, Rhode Island, Gemma Hopper’s older brother, Teddy, is a baseball god, destined to become a Major League star. Gemma loves playing baseball, but with her mom gone and her dad working endless overtime, it’s up to her to keep the house running. She’s too busy folding laundry, making lunches, getting her younger twin brothers to do their homework, and navigating the perils of middle-school friendships to take baseball seriously.
But every afternoon, Gemma picks up her baseball glove to pitch to Teddy during his batting practice--throwing sliders down and away, fastballs right over the middle (not too fast or he’ll get mad), and hanging curveballs high and tight.
Could baseball be Gemma’s ticket to the big leagues or will it mean the end of her family as she knows it?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Spangler (Beast) crafts a piercing meditation on fraught family dynamics, complex adolescence, and athletic meritocracy in this baseball-filled graphic novel. Ever since her mother left unexpectedly, 13-year-old Gemma Hopper has been the de facto caregiver to her younger twin brothers. Though Gemma keeps the household running by preparing meals and doing laundry, her overworked father seems solely interested in her baseball prodigy older brother Teddy, who's set to join the under-16 All-Atlantic baseball team. School offers little reprieve as classmates use her as a way to get close to Teddy. While helping Teddy with batting practice, Gemma channels her frustrations into throwing her best pitches, and strikes Teddy out. The incident goes viral, tanking Teddy's confidence and catapulting Gemma into the limelight. The two-toned teal palette evokes a distinctly New England setting; rust-colored accents add nuance and energy to the protagonist's internal conflicts. Gemma's yearning for recognition from her loved ones, and the thoughtfully characterized family's struggles to connect amid the tumult, result in both hard-won reconciliations and painful disappointments, presenting a sympathetic rendering of a disheartened teenager navigating an unsettled home life. Ages 8–12.
