Fox Point's Own Gemma Hopper

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)

Thirteen-year-old Gemma Hopper is having a rough year. After her mom abandoned the family without an explanation, she became the de facto "mother" of the house: cooking, cleaning, caring for her younger twin brothers - and throwing pitches for her older brother Teddy.

Gemma is, in the author's words, "the wrong key for every lock in her life: too tall, too awkward, too weird-looking." It doesn't help that her older brother is THE Teddy Hopper, a star hitter and minor local celebrity: just one of twenty-six boys on the Eastern Seaboard invited to join the All-Atlantic Team. If you'd think that some of Teddy's popularity would rub off on Gemma, you'd be wrong. Gemma show more feels like she's forever being compared to her older brother - and always coming up short.

Until the day Gemma finally channels her anger, and she strikes the golden boy out during practice. A video of her wicked arm goes viral and, before she knows it, Gemma's got a real shot at getting out of Fox Point too. But healing fractured relationships - with her brother Teddy, best friend Bailey, and her dad - might prove the greatest challenge of all.

FOX POINT'S OWN GEMMA HOPPER is a bittersweet story about a tween - and a family - who's barely holding it together. While we experience the story through Gemma's eyes - and feel plenty of righteous indignation on her behalf - it quickly becomes clear that Teddy's life isn't all cupcakes and puppy dogs either. It's not easy coming from a baseball family, being named after Ted Williams, and seeing one's hobby turned into the family's meal ticket. Teddy's going through SOME STUFF too, and I love the way the siblings band together by story's end. Dad's a little more difficult to forgive, in the way he fails to recognize and nurture the talent in his one daughter, the way he does his son's. But at least he comes around in the end.

You don't have have to love baseball to enjoy FOX POINT'S OWN GEMMA HOPPER (though it certainly doesn't hurt). There's plenty of teenage awkwardness and family conflict so that everyone can find something to relate to. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Gemma's older brother is a baseball prodigy, and Gemma just doesn't know where she fits in. She knows she's exhausted. Her mom is gone, her dad is busy working several jobs, and Gemma has to school, pitch to her brother, take care of her younger twin brothers, and pretty much do everything around the house. It's a lot. She's got conflict with her brother and her friend. It is the family tree project that pushes her over the edge.
The graphic novel is in greens.
It delves into Gemma's outside life and internal life. It's readable and compelling. Gemma really gets to understand how some of her assumptions about people in her life aren't really true.

Really enjoyed this one! It had heart and an excellent narrative voice. You don't even have to be knowledgable about baseball to understand this one.

Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper is a fantastic middle grade graphic novel about growing up and finding yourself. It is a beautiful story about siblings’ love and a shared passion. It also highlights the pressure that parents can sometimes put on their children’s shoulders. Even if I am not particularly a baseball fan, I was really interested in Gemma’s strength and her quest to find what makes Gemma, Gemma.

Gemma‘s family life is a bit of a mess. This is illustrated best through her inability to complete a family tree. Her mom walked out on the family a year ago and has left her playing mom to her younger and older brothers. The one thing she has going for her is baseball. She doesn’t play. She just pitches balls to her big brother, who is the towns biggest sports star. He’s headed out to a fancy sports team that travels in Florida. That’s going to be a big change from living in Rhode Island. This book is lovely and one can feel the love of the sport. I think, even non-baseball lovers will find the story of t Gemma, on the brink of womanhood, an interesting read. We see her come to terms with life and realize that certain things show more are not as bad or as good as she thought they were, and that she is OK with that. show less

Fox Point's Own Gemma Hopper is an excellent addition to baseball (and sports generally) literature featuring girls, women, and lgbtq+ individuals. The story is uplifting without being overly sweet.