© 2003  Terry Widener
Client: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
           An Anne Schwartz Book
Medium: Acrylic on Paper
Size: Various Sizes
Use: Children Book
Ttile: "Girl Wonder"

AWARDS

2004 Jane Addams honored book
"Girl Wonder" is the winner of a 2003 Parents Choice Gold Award.
"Girl Wonder" is the winner of the Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. Family Magazine  2003 Best Book of the Year Award.

REVIEWS

From Kirkus Reviews
A winning author-illustrator team hits a home run with this top-notch tale about Alta Weiss, who played semi-pro baseball in early 1900s.
Hopkinson (Our Kansas Home, Feb. 2003, etc.) takes facts from an adult nonfiction book, Women at Play, by Barbara Gregorich, and fictionalizes
them just enough to craft a compelling story. With a hint of tall-tale exaggeration, Weiss’s conversational first-person voice draws images from country
life and slang from baseball. "I could read his line of thinking, clear as a catcher’s signs," Alta observes about her new coach. Widener’s (The Twins and
the Bird of Darkness, 2002, etc.) rounded, oversized figures have a legendary quality that perfectly suits the language and setting, and accurately reflect
Weiss’s change of uniform from a dress in her first year to bloomers later on. In the elegant design, generous white space frames the acrylic paintings,
which vary in perspective and size from humorous close-ups to a team line-up on the endpapers. Baseballs with inning numbers unobtrusively divide
the story into nine parts. As a fitting end to a remarkable story, Weiss is shown following in her father’s footsteps to become a doctor, the only female in
her class of 1914. A pleasure to look at and read aloud, this concludes with a timeline about women in baseball and, on the back cover, a wonderful
black-and-white photograph of Alta Weiss preparing to pitch. (Picture book. 4-9)

From Horn Book Review
The illustrations are trademark Widener: broad, somewhat exaggerated, but conveying much emotion and narrative content.
With a concise, informative author's note, a timeline (""Highlights of Women in Baseball""), and, as a finishing touch, a black-and-white photo of a
formidable-looking Weiss in mid-windup on the back cover. Copyright 2003 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
"Widener's distinctive acrylic paintings in vivid colors and with exaggerated features further express the strength of this book."
By BLAIR CHRISTOLON, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
 "Widener's exaggerated faces and rubbery-looking bodies are set in a picture plane of bright acrylics, where a bat or glove might
 pop out over the edge: a logo of ball and bats marks the innings of Alta's life. "By GRACE-ANNE DECANDIDO
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly
"Widener's animated, period paintings are in perfect pitch with the winning tone of Hopkinson's story, relayed in the voice of `girl
wonder' Alta Weiss," PW wrote. Ages 5-8. (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

From School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Alta Weiss "must have been born to play baseball," and as the first woman to join a men's semipro team in 1907, she did just that.
This first-person fictionalized account is a powerful testament to her talent and determination. Spirited acrylic illustrations are equally noteworthy.
Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Andrea Sears Andrews - Children's Literature
This is a creative telling of the life of Alta Weiss, a female pitcher on Ohio's semipro male team, the Vermilion Independents.
It is divided into nine moments of time, in other words, her nine innings of life. Inning number one tells of her first real pitch at age
two when she threw a corncob at a pesky cat, smacking it hard and true. Inning number four describes her ability to strike out every boy in town,
and conversations with friends that claim "you're almost a lady...Isn't time you quit playing games?" The seventh inning stretch occurs when her
first true attempt as a semipro player is tested. Alta pitches five innings, plays on first, and leads the team to a victory. At the ninth inning and the
conclusion of the book, the reader learns of Alta's professional move into medicine and her graduation from an otherwise all-male medical school in 1914.
The illustrations accompanying this text consist of broad and bold pastel strokes. There is a good use of shadow throughout, bringing depth and strength to the pages.
This book is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to convey the importance of determination and self-truth. 2003, Antheneum Books for Young Readers.

From Parents' Choice
As for Terry Widener’s pictures, they are a brilliant addition to the story. Widener certainly knows the tensions on pitchers, batters, and fans as a close game progresses.
The setting and the entire ambience are 100% authentic. Just looking at the photograph of Alta Weiss on the book’s back cover reveals Widener’s admirable ability to
capture the essence of a given scene. In sum, the book will induce many a reader to urge a parent “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” It’s a first-rate book.
Selma G. Lanes   ©2003 Parents' Choice

From Teach with Picture Books
Terry Widener lends his talents to another stand-out title: Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings. In the simplest prose (shared with the reader in “innings”),
author Deborah Hopkinson relates a fictionalized tale of Alta Weiss, a pioneering baseball player who would win acclaim by playing for the all-male Independents.
Although women’s teams had been around since the formation of the 1866 Vassar College team (a fact I learned in this book’s “Highlights of Women in Baseball" endnote),
the foray of Alta Weiss into what was traditionally a men’s game was a first.