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Sliding Into Home

dori hillestad butler

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Girls can't play baseball at Hoover Middle School, but Joelle is determined to find a way to play the game she loves.

It's not fair! Thirteen-year-old Joelle Cunningham is passionate about baseball. When her family moves to the small town of Greendale, Iowa, she quickly discovers that there are strict rules preventing her from playing on the school team.

At Hoover Middle School, only boys play baseball. Girls play softball. Joelle tries to tell everyone they're not the same sport. But no one is listening. Not Coach Carlyle who doesn't want her on his team, even though they're at the bottom of the league. Not Ms. Fenner, the softball coach who wants Joelle to use her big-league swing on the girls' softball team. Not even Jason, her older brother, who is too busy at college to be of much help.

Through some creative problem-solving and surprising alliances, Joelle finds a solution to her dilemma that brings the disputing sides together...and baseball to the girls of Greendale.

Author Dori Hillestad Butler has created a high-spirited, indomitable character that readers will admire and root for in this story of frustrated ambition and ultimate triumph.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,2003

This edition

Format
224 pages, Paperback
Published
April 5, 2005 by Peachtree
ISBN
9781561453412
ASIN
1561453412
Language
English

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About the author

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dori hillestad butler

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Dori Hillestad Butler is an American author of more than 40 children's books, as well as magazine stories, plays and educational materials. Her first book, The Great Tooth Fairy Rip-Off, was published in 1997. She is known particularly for The Truth about Truman School, a 2008 young adult title focusing on the subject of cyber bullying, and for My Mom's Having a Baby (illustrated by Carol Thompson), which in 2011 appeared on the American Library Association's list of most commonly challenged books in the United States for its portrayal of conception and childbirth. Her 2010 mystery title, Buddy Files: Case of the Last Boy, won the 2011 Edgar Award for the best juvenile mystery published in 2010. Before becoming a children's author, Butler worked for three years as a page at a library.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.8 / 5.0, 24 votes)
5 stars
6(25%)
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8(33%)
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10(42%)
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24 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
digi101
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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very good for people who like to play sports. it is about a girl that wants to play baseball but the girls at her school play softball because the school only lets girls play softball and boys play softball. Does she get to play baseball? You can only find out if you read the book. so read it, it is good
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Chloesauras
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Joelle comes from a baseball family and has always played baseball herself, but when her family moves to Iowa, she's informed that girls are not allowed to play baseball in her school district; their only option is softball. Joelle is furious and frustrated because the sports are not the same, and she's tired of everyone telling her she should just play softball and get over it. She's not about to take softball for an answer, though, and sets out to find a way she can play her favorite sport. Along the way she encounters a ton of bureaucratic red tape, resentment and snide comments from fellow students, anger from coaches, and doubt from every sector possible. Plus she has to deal with a new school, new kids, and a popular girl driving her crazy. She also finds friends and allies, though, and learns just what determination can get you.

Disclaimer: the author is a good friend. I really enjoyed this, even though I'm about as far from a sporty girl as you can get, and I'll admit I skimmed all the baseball action. The representation of local bureaucracy and pushback from every sector was unfortunately totally believable, and thus this offers a good game plan for any student who has a similar passion and wants to find a solution. Joelle is not always likable in her single-minded determination, which makes her trample on her friends a bit, but she does come to realize her flaws and try to amend them. I'd recommend this to anyone trying to push something through local bureaucracy.
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DarcyIsTsundere
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Of course my initial interest in this book was baseball. Sliding into Home is about so much more! It’s about family, friendship, determination — and, okay, it’s about Girl Power.
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YesSirImACow
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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I feel like this plot is overused.

And maybe there's a good reason but ik just saying it's the fifth book with that plot and seventh piece of media in general that I've come across
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Mr_PurpleHeart
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Joelle Cunningham has just moved from Minneapolis to Greendale, Iowa. She plays baseball and would rather play it than any other game, even softball. But in Greendale there are no baseball teams for girls and Joelle is out to change that. When she can’t change the school board she starts her own all girl league - but it’s easier said than done!
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eyaaan
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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I learned it is hard to move to a different school because a lot of things change. I also learned most of the things change for the best and if not, then you can change things if you really have to. This book inspired me because its about a girl who knows what she likes and she stands up for herself. It's good that she likes baseball; we should get more girls into baseball.
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