Throw Like A Girl is the contemporary debut for author Sarah Henning. With two books already on her roster, Sea Witch and its exciting sequel Sea Witch Rising, this new novel is a dramatic change of pace for readers. Henning’s previous works fall squarely in the fantasy pool, but this entertaining story introduces the reader to the world of elite high school sports.
It is the story of champion softball player Liv Rodinsky and the consequences she faces after, understandably, losing her cool and starting a mid-game fight on the field with a girl from local public school, Northland. As a result of the fight, Liv loses her boyfriend, but more importantly she loses her scholarship to the private school she attends and her place on their team. To her horror, she finds herself enrolled at Northland without a place on the softball team. With college scouts on the horizon, Liv sets out to prove to Northland’s softball coach, Coach Kitt, that she would be an asset on the team and she gains an unlikely ally.
Then there’s injured Northland star quarterback, Grey, who sees her throwing a football and convinces Liv to join the football team as a temporary second replacement quarterback until he is cleared to play. In return he will put in a good word with Coach Kitt, his mother. Without many other choices and a school of people against her, Liv agrees and what begins her journey for acceptance and discovers along the way that not everything or everyone is as it seems.
Throw Like A Girl is a delightful YA contemporary sports novel with a very swoon-worthy love story. Despite this story having a genuine romance, it is not simply a story about two teens falling in love. It explores an elite athlete’s trials and tribulations of self discovery and transition through life while providing actual sports play. This accuracy comes from Henning’s background as a sports journalist and it is what makes this stand apart from others in the genre. I am not a sports fan in any way, but I enjoyed learning about the game of football as it was presented in an easy to read way without oversimplifying any of the technical terminology. The story is authentic and provides a perfect balance between fluffy YA romance and accurate sports that is easy to follow and draws you into the game play and leaves you cheering on to the very end.
The characters are well-written, complex, and representative of the world we live in today and the real life issues we face in society. Liv’s sister is the unwitting recipient of a homophobic slur and her mother is dealing with the effects of aggressive terminal cancer. Instead of shying away from these uncomfortable topics, Henning provides the reader with real emotions and heartfelt interactions, which creates something deeper than the traditional high school drama. There is a cast of people that surround the main character that support and guide her, but are still realistic. The role of supportive best friend goes to Addie, a fellow softball player, who despite her new love interest, has Liv’s back 100%. It is common in books that the author makes characters choose between their friends and their love interests, but Henning allows the protagonist to exist independently of these forces and this is something we need more of in our fiction and our world.
Sarah Henning has me completely converted to not only the YA contemporary genre, but also the sports fiction genre. Throw Like A Girl is fun, compelling, exciting, and most importantly, a real story which describes the world of elite high school sports combined with a friends to lovers romance. It was a genuine and refreshing story that was a perfect introduction to the world of contemporary… I couldn’t put it down!
Throw Like A Girl is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of January 7th 2020.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Friday Night Lights meets Morgan Matson’s The Unexpected Everything in this contemporary debut where swoonworthy romance meets underdog sports story.
When softball star Liv Rodinsky throws one ill-advised punch during the most important game of the year, she loses her scholarship to her fancy private school, her boyfriend, and her teammates all in one fell swoop. With no other options, Liv is forced to transfer to the nearest public school, Northland, where she’ll have to convince their coach she deserves a spot on the softball team, all while facing both her ex and the teammates of the girl she punched… Every. Single. Day.
Enter Grey, the injured star quarterback with amazing hair and a foolproof plan: if Liv joins the football team as his temporary replacement, he’ll make sure she gets a spot on the softball team in the Spring. But it will take more than the perfect spiral for Liv to find acceptance in Northland’s halls, and behind that charming smile, Grey may not be so perfect after all.
With well-drawn characters and a charming quarterback love interest who’s got brains as well as brawn, Throw Like a Girl will have readers swooning from the very first page.
