Today is National Girls & Women in Sports Day, so let’s celebrate with these two new middle grade titles starring young queer athletes—including what may be the first middle grade book to include a scene at a Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game!
Let’s start with the book I found the most personally meaningful. As a former competitive fencer, I had high hopes for It’s All or Nothing, Vale, by Andrea Beatriz Arango (Random House), a novel in verse about a queer, seventh-grade fencer—and my expectations were exceeded.
Valentina “Vale” Camacho was the best fencer at her Virginia fencing gym and top-rated in youth tournaments, until a motorbike accident seriously injured her leg, requiring metal pins and months of rehab. Now she’s been cleared to fence again—but her leg isn’t what it was and she’s still often in pain. Her mother doesn’t understand why she doesn’t just give up fencing and focus on trying new remedies; her father, however, acts like she should be just fine; and her older brother suggests she try new hobbies.
For Vale, however, “fencing isn’t just a hobby/I can pick up and put down—it’s who I am.” She’s trained for years, even at the expense of having friends, and now just wants her body to be what it was before the crash. That’s not easy, however. But when a new girl at the gym, Myrka Marerro, is now seen as the top fencer there, Vale is determined to win back her reputation. She knows she can beat Myrka—but her plan to do so is complicated by her growing crush on Myrka, an out lesbian.
The book is much more than a story of a crush or even of an athlete seeking to reclaim glory, however. It’s about our expectations for ourselves, what happens when those expectations are derailed and we must reassess who we are, and how we can find support for doing so, whether from family or beyond. Author and Newbery Honor winner Andrea Beatriz Arango shows us Vale’s perfectionism, determination, frustration, and anger, but avoids easy answers. This is shown most clearly in Vale’s exploration of whether she is now disabled; an exploration thoughtfully informed by Arango and her husband’s own experiences with chronic pain.
Anrango gives Vale her own Puerto Rican heritage, too, which manifests itself in various ways, such as the salsa Vale’s parents love and the Spanish sprinkled throughout the text (and easily understood from context by non-Spanish speakers). Myrka is Cuban, however, and reminds us of the wide variety of Latina/o/e experiences.
(My only small quibble is that the jacket illustrations, which are really quite lovely, show Vale holding what appears to be a fencing foil, not the epee that Vale is said to use. (Epees have a larger guard.) That takes nothing away from the excellence of the book, but my own fencing perfectionism compels me to note this.)
Women’s sports in general are on the rise and U.S. fencers are doing better than ever on the international stage. Not only that, but a queer American woman of color, Lauren Scruggs, won a 2024 Olympic silver medal in the individual foil competition and a gold in the team competition. That gives this highly recommended book obvious timeliness—but its thoughtful portrayal of self-growth should give it even broader appeal. Touché!
The title is also available in Spanish as Todo o nada, Valentina.
Bea Mullins Takes a Shot, by Emily Deibert (Random House), just might be the first middle grade book to include a PWHL game, and is certainly the first queer-inclusive one. Deibert says in the Author’s Note that she was actually writing that note as the first-ever PWHL game was taking place in January 2024.
Twelve-year-old Canadian Bea Mullins has had enough of sports after being teased about her poor play at a basketball camp. But when the school’s gym gets flooded and students are encouraged to try extracurricular sports, Bea’s friend Celia Chan convinces her to sign up for the fledgling girl’s hockey team, the Glenwood Geese, so that they have enough players.
Bea’s father and older brother, both hockey enthusiasts, are delighted. Bea is less so, even though several of the other players have little experience, either. Team co-founder Gabi, however, dreams of playing professionally someday, and offers Bea tips and encouragement.
Bea still doubts her skills, and her ongoing hesitancy on the ice begins to cause friction with teammates. As Bea spends more time with Gabi, though, Celia starts to wonder why Bea has no time for her, causing further strain on their friendship. Bea is beginning to realize, too, that she has a crush on Gabi, but even though she knows Celia (who has two moms) will be accepting, needs time to adjust to her new feelings before she’s ready to come out.
Amidst these personal challenges comes the news that the girls’ hockey team might not survive another year if they don’t attract more fans and raise more money. This gives author Emily Deibert a chance to weave in some thoughtful but non-pedantic messages about the inequities between men’s and women’s (and girls’ and boys’) sports, which feel needed and timely.
The core of this recommended story, though, is Bea’s personal growth as a player and a person. We see her gradually face her own self-doubt and responsibilities to teammates and friends.
There’s also a hint that Bea is bisexual, although she doesn’t use that term. One of Celia’s moms, however, is stated to be bisexual and the other is lesbian. A teacher who is mentioned a few times in passing is nonbinary and uses the title “Mx.”
There’s lots of hockey action here, too (clearly explained for those less familiar with the game), plus more middle school social dynamics and the use (and misuse) of social media to promote the team. The deepening relationship between Bea and Gabi is sweet and lovely, and there’s happily no homophobia in the tale—just the common queer conundrum of “Is this a date?” (which this reviewer personally experienced with her now-spouse of 30+ years).
And yes, one scene takes place at a PWHL game. Real-life PWHL stars Sarah Nurse and Natalie Spooner of the Toronto Sceptres are name-checked, and a fictional PWHL player, who is also from Columbia like Gabi, plays a small but significant role as Gabi’s idol.
Might we be lucky enough to read more about the Glenwood Geese’s second season in a future volume? And might we see the book sold on PWHL merch tables at the real games?
For even more sports-themed, LGBTQ-inclusive titles, filter my Database of LGBTQ Family Books by the “Sports” tag!
(And yes, for the record, trans women and girls belong in women’s and girls’ sports!)
