Susie Finkbeiner’s The All-American is a work of historical fiction taking place in the 1950s. The summary of the book by the publisher seems a bit biased towards one of the two main characters, Bertha Harding. The frustrating thing about this is one is expecting the story to be mostly about baseball and Bertha’s dreams to play pro ball. However, there is another main character who gets an equal amount of page time and that is Bertha’s sister, Flossie.  In addition, the description makes it seem as though readers will get to hear a lot about Bertha’s time as a pro ball player, but the majority of the book is really not about this.

Once the reader gets past the realization that the book is going to be a bit different than expected, it is a great read. Finkbeiner has a style that helps readers understand the motivations and actions of the characters. It is this character development that compels one to read on so as to find out how things go for the protagonists. Each character is given her own voice. If you are a fan of Finkbeiner’s works, you will discover all of the things you love about her in this story.

The book is filled with all sorts of emotional highs and lows. The ending of the book came with mixed feelings. In true Finkbeiner fashion, difficult topics are addressed in an honest and compassionate manner. There was one plot point that felt a little forced. Almost as though an editor said there was not enough drama or intensity and the author had to add something to up the conflict. It is strange that the epilogue only focused on one of the two sisters and left the other one out completely. No more will be said on this topic so as to avoid revealing too much.

Review of an Advance Reader Copy provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 1 half-written religious exclamation.

Violence/Gore: A character is pushed by a group of bullies and bloodies her knees; rocks are thrown through windows; graffiti contains mildly threatening messages.

Sex/Nudity: Non-married characters hold hands, embrace; mention is made that a married couple needs privacy.

Mature Subject Matter:  

Gender biases, the Red Scare, death of family members.

Drug/Alcohol Use:

Person references past addition to alcohol; mention of people consuming different types of alcohol including bourbon, whiskey and beer.