Hoops

Tavares' debut graphic novel is a historical fiction inspired by true events, following a girls' high-school basketball team in Wilkins, Indiana, as they defy expectations on their way to a state championship. Judi always dreamed of being a basketball star, though her best friend assumes they'll be star cheerleaders instead. When, thanks to Title IX, the school announces a new girls' basketball team, Judi jumps at the chance. We follow the team as they find early success despite the lack of support from their school, and the tension comes less from their on-court competitions--which are brief but nonetheless enjoyable--and more from the question of whether or not they'll change the patriarchal perspectives of their peers and administrators. The story is delivered with a wonderfully light touch, mirrored by Tavares' soft, inviting illustrations and their simplified features; clean, bold linework; and solid color fills. Although it's technically set in high school, grade-school readers will have no problem connecting to the friendship drama or rooting for Judi, her dream, and her epic '70s bowl cut. Highly recommended.

Set in the 1970s after the minting of Title IX, this feminist graphic novel, inspired by Indiana basketball player Judi Warren, follows fictional high schooler Judi Wilson, who dreams of scoring the winning basket during a championship game. But there are no girls' athletics teams at Judi's high school, so she sets aside her court desires to become a cheerleader. When her school starts a girls' basketball team, dubbed the Lady Bears, she's overjoyed to play, but her team faces many challenges, including being required to practice at the elementary school and make their own jerseys. Teammate Lisa points out that the boys' team suffers none of these indignities, and, together with Judi and another teammate, speaks out. The athletic director tells them, "When you can fill the gym, you can share it" with the boys' team. Determined to prove themselves, the girls slowly build a winning streak, setting themselves up for success despite their disadvantages. Set against snowy, ambient Midwestern backgrounds peopled by friendly faced characters portrayed with varying skin tones, Tavares (Dasher) gently relays lessons about equality and activism alongside themes of friendship and fitting in, offering an approachable, motivational entry point into Title IX's effect on sports history. Ages 8--12. (Mar.)

Tavaresâe(tm)s first graphic novel is based on the true story of Judi Warren and the 1976 Warsaw (Indiana) High School girlsâe(tm) basketball team -- its rise from nonexistence before Title IX, to filling the bleachers, to winning the state championship. The book finds its main character in Judi Wilson, an athletically gifted high school senior reluctantly funneled into cheerleading, whose ­greatest dream comes true when the Lady Bears basketball team is formed. The girls battle for everything: practice space, uniforms, transportation, spectators. ­Creativity, ­dedication, and passion for their sport drive them through the systemic barriers that surround them in order to find success. This is a timely exploration of the preâe"Title IX United States; and a cinematic, well-paced, feel-good sports story, with a couple of solid subplots to give the main characters depth. Artistically, Tavares, known for such photorealistic picture books as Henry Aaronâe(tm)s Dream (rev. 3/10) and Growing Up Pedro (rev. 1/15), pares back his style to be very readable (if occasionally a bit static) and avoid colliding with the text. The classic championship-game climax is rousing, while the appended authorâe(tm)s note brings more nuance to the ongoing fight against sexism and discrimination and tells more about the history-making Warsaw High School team, Judi Warren, and Title IX. Alex SchaffnerMarch/April 2023 p.82 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Girls' basketball gets off to a rocky start at an Indiana high school in the wake of Title IX. Basing his debut graphic novel on a true story, Tavares follows a small group of enthusiasts and their resourceful art teacher who moonlights as the girls' basketball coach, from tryouts that are shuffled off to the elementary school's gym through dogged practices and hard-fought games all the way to the 1976 state championship. Both the art and the plot are spare and cleanly drawn--the former featuring spacious compositions and easy-to-follow action both on and off the boards. The latter focuses on the friendship that develops between Judi and her teammate Lisa as the Lady Bears ("Why is it always Lady Bears?" a teammate complains, "nobody ever calls the boys' team the Gentleman Bears"), lacking even jerseys until late in the season and riding to away games in their coach's uncle's RV because no bus has been authorized, gradually build a following. They ultimately earn a public apology from the dismissive athletic director and, reuniting during a college break three years later, have the satisfaction of seeing the bleachers in their old high school well filled for a girls' game. Like the overtly sexist attitudes, which get light but firmly visible exposure, the artist suggests his cast's racial diversity rather than highlighting it through differences in skin tone and hair texture. A winning tale, all the more exhilarating for its links to history. (author's note) (Graphic fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.