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Molly and her Dad always shared a love of baseball — especially the hard-luck Chicago Cubs — and he taught her how to throw a tricky knuckleball. After her father passes away, Molly wants to try out for the boys’ baseball team, as a way of keeping her connection to her Dad. This tender novel combines sports action with Molly’s struggle to accept her loss.

The Girl Who Threw Butterflies

Mick Cochrane

Age Level:

Middle Grade

Genre:

Fiction

Published:

2009

Seventeen-year-old Biddy Owens is part of the Birmingham Black Barons baseball team and dreams of becoming a major league baseball player. However, in 1948 most black players can only play for the Negro Leagues. Jackie Robinson has just recently integrated and is playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, but the white owners are reluctant to add too many blacks to their rosters. The Birmingham Black Barons are some of the best players in the league. But as they travel around playing ball, Biddy realizes that not everyone is ready for blacks and whites to play on the same team.