Abstract

Reviewed by: The Girl, the Ring, & the Baseball Bat by Camille Gomera-Tavarez Wesley Jacques Gomera-Tavarez, Camille The Girl, the Ring, & the Baseball Bat. Levine Querido, 2024 [256p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781646142651 $19.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-11 Bookish and outspoken Dominicana Rosie Rojas is forcibly removed from the accelerated tract at her Jersey City high school when she gets caught up in one of her older sister Caro’s justifiably explosive outbursts. In detention, she meets Zeke, a queer Jamaican teen recently arrived from Florida, who’s learning that unfair, un-deserved punishments are par for the course. All three eventually find themselves at the Queens home of the sisters’ previously unknown tía, where they learn family secrets, brujería, and powerful catalysts for change. A jacket from Rosie’s conservative [End Page 177] mother’s mysterious past in a magical biker gang amplifies Rosie’s big feelings about being an overachiever prevented from overachieving by biased—i.e., racist, sexist, and outright cruel—school officials. Zeke comes into possession of a set of curious rings that exacerbate his fear of harming those he’s intimate with until he comes to better terms with himself. And Caro’s surreal experiences on a journey back to the DR lead to wielding a magical bat of self-discovery. Narrative shifts between the perspectives of each character mirror a story that skillfully and chaotically represents the ups and downs of high school, while Spanish dialog and supernatural elements don’t shy away from offering a singularly compelling experience for readers. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois