Brie Spangler

Gemma Hopper's self assessment: "I'm six feet tall, I'm thirteen years old, and no, I don't play basketball." And despite what you might think from the cover, she doesn't play baseball either. But she does help her superstar brother practice his batting by pitching to him every minute he can wrangle out of her. Gemma's more concerned about middle school stuff, like sitting at the popular kids' table and not losing her best friend to those same popular kids. But unfortunately, everything else takes a back seat to being family housekeeper, cook, and nanny to her younger twin brothers in the absence of her runaway mother and perpetually working father.

The baseball angle gives a nice boost to an otherwise ordinary bit of middle school angst, but the family tree class report that frames the story is dull and heavy-handed and forces a dumb big speech finale that feels out of place and unnecessary.

Still, I enjoyed the art and characters and look forward to what the author might do in the future.… (more)