Ellie is trying her hand at softball, but it's harder than it looks. She goes into the woods in search of a stray ball and finds an injured baby deer instead.

When she sees how much her little brother and young stepbrother and stepsister want to play softball, thirteen-year-old Kristy starts her own team, which makes up in spirit what it lacks in skill.

Twelve-year-old Ana Flores has never really taken to sports, but when she observes the women's softball team practice at the college where her mother is going to teach, she is intrigued and decides to try out for a local team; unfortunately it is harder than it looks--but with some help from one of the college girls, Caitlin, and Mali, a pitcher who is mad she only made second team, Ana gets to work on her catching, and Mali works on her attitude,...

"Nine-year-old Maria Singh learns to play softball just like her heroes in the All-American Girls' League, while her parents and neighbors are struggling through World War II, working for India's independence, and trying to stay on their farmland"--