Dust Bowl Girls: A Team's Quest for Basketball Glory (Thorndike Press Large Print Popular and Narrative Nonfiction) - Hardcover

Reeder, Lydia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1410496724 ISBN 13: 9781410496720

Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print, 2017

Synopsis

A thrilling, cinematic story. I loved every minute I spent with these bold, daring women whose remarkable journey is the stuff of American legend. Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy

The Boys in the Boat meets A League of Their Own in this true story of a Depression-era championship women s team.

In the early 1930s, during the worst drought and financial depression in American history, Sam Babb began to dream. Like so many others, this charismatic Midwestern basketball coach wanted a reason to have hope. Traveling from farm to farm near the tiny Oklahoma college where he coached, Babb recruited talented, hardworking young women and offered them a chance at a better life: a free college education in exchange for playing on his basketball team, the Cardinals.

Despite their fears of leaving home and the sacrifices that their families would face, the women joined the team. And as Babb coached the Cardinals, something extraordinary happened. These remarkable athletes found a passion for the game and a heartfelt loyalty to one another and their coach--and they began to win.

Combining exhilarating sports writing and exceptional storytelling, Dust Bowl Girls takes readers on the Cardinals intense, improbable journey all the way to an epic showdown with the prevailing national champions, helmed by the legendary Babe Didrikson. Lydia Reeder captures a moment in history when female athletes faced intense scrutiny from influential figures in politics, education, and medicine who denounced women s sports as unhealthy and unladylike. At a time when a struggling nation was hungry for inspiration, this unlikely group of trailblazers achieved much more than a championship season."

About this title

Review

Lydia Reeder has crafted a thrilling, cinematic story that seems destined for the big screen (please cast Saoirse Ronan as Doll Harris!). I loved every minute I spent with the bold, daring women of the Cardinals basketball team, whose remarkable journey to victory is the stuff of American legend.
Karen Abbott, New York Timesbestselling author ofLiar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy

Long before the influence of Title IX, a small college in Oklahoma, under the direction of a volunteer coach, was actively involved in recruiting women athletes. Based on extensive research and told with the talented storytelling ability of the author, Dust Bowl Girls is an important and enjoyable story."
Virginia Peters, Ph.D., Former Coach of Women's Basketball and Director of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Oklahoma

Dust Bowl Girls reads like something pulled from the imagination of a Hollywood dreamer. However, it is a true story of a group of Oklahoma Dust Bowl farm girls melded together by a one-legged coach into the finest basketball team of the Depression era. This epic sports story is the stuff of which legends are made.
W. Lynne Draper, Former President and CEO of the Jim Thorpe Association and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and recipient of the NFL Players Association National Award of Excellence

Fun. Heartwarming. The story of a little-known but important moment in the history of basketball and women's sports in general.
Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game

For so long, women have been told they couldn't orshouldn't. InDust Bowl Girls, Lydia Reedertells the story of pioneers in women's sport who refused to listen. In a mix of history and sports thriller, Reeder unearths the story a rag tag group of women - some of them teenagers - who took the first steps to proving women could be athletes too. It's an inspiring story.
Jen A. Miller, author ofRunning: A Love Story

As she tells the amazing story of Babb and his underdog women's basketball team, Reeder also reveals the challenges facing serious female athletes during the 1920s and '30s, including the perceived risk of destroying their feminine image by invading a man's world. Sports fans and general readers alike a re sure to find the story both worthwhile and enterta ining. A heartwarmingly inspirational tale. Kirkus Reviews

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Edition details

• Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1410496724
• ISBN 13: 9781410496720
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 475