Cherry Blossom Baseball

After her family is forced to move by Canada’s racist wartime policies, Michiko is the only Japanese kid at school. One nice thing is that she’s a hit at the local baseball tryouts. There’s just one problem: everyone thinks she’s a boy. What is she to do when they find her out — do as she’s told and quit, or pitch like never before?

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CCBC’s Best Books for Kids & Teens (Spring 2016) — Commended

Is pretending to be someone else the only way Michiko can fit in?


Michiko Minigawa’s life is nothing but a bad game of baseball. The Canadian government swung the bat once, knocking her family away from a Vancouver home base to an old farmhouse in the Kootenay Mountains. But when they move into town, the government swings the bat again, announcing that all Japanese must now move east of the Rockies or else go to Japan.


Now in Ontario, Michiko once again has to adjust to a whole new kind of life. She is the only Japanese student in her school, and making friends is harder than it was before. When Michiko surprises an older student with her baseball skills and he encourages her to try out for the local team, she gives it a shot. But everyone thinks this new baseball star is a boy. Michiko has to make a decision: quit playing ball (and being harassed), or pitch like she’s never pitched before.