Kindle Edition Amazon Blue Dragon Publishing Blue Dragon Publishing Amazon Category:  Children Publisher: Blue Dragon Publishing ISBN-10:  1939696127 Type: Fiction Pages: 128 Copyright: Nov 15, 2015 ISBN-13: 9781939696120 Price: $5.99 (eBook) Trish learns that being part of the Lady Tigers is about more than playing fastpitch softball. It’s about being part of a team. Trish's Team is the first of a ten-part series about a girls' travel fastpitch softball team. Throughout the series, the Lady Tigers learn that being part of a team is about more than what happens on the field. In this youth fiction story, Trish learns that when she lies to her parents to get her own way, there are consequences that will affect more than just her. She really wants to play for the competitive softball team, the Lady Tigers. Her parents want her to continue playing the violin in the orchestra. Her 12-year old mind comes up with a solution that includes deceiving her parents. When they find out, Trish is punished and her team suffers alongside her as they lose a game because they are one player short. Excerpt Chapter 1 Trish Murphy stood in center field and brushed her brown bangs off her forehead with the back of her right hand. Frowning in concentration, she waited for the next pitch. In front of her, Ashley stepped onto the pitcher’s mound, hesitated only briefly, and then spun her right arm in a clockwise motion to deliver a good-looking pitch. Smack. The ball sailed toward center field. Racing forward, Trish got under it, just like the coach had shown her. Plop. It landed snugly in her glove for an easy out. “Nice catch, Trish!” Coach Tim called from the dugout. She smiled and threw the ball to the infield. It was a beautiful throw, yet it bounced out of the second baseman’s glove and rolled to the pitcher. Rolling her eyes in frustration, Trish hurried back to her spot in the outfield. Two outs, one to go. Trish watched as, on the mound, Ashley took the signal from the catcher. Nodding, Ashley positioned the ball inside her glove, stood tall on her wind up, and fired the ball to the exact low-inside location the catcher had indicated. “Strike one,” the umpire called. Shifting her stance to the right slightly so she could look around the pitcher’s back, Trish waited to see where the next pitch would cross the plate. She was betting it would be low and outside this time. “Strike two!” she heard across the plush grass that lay before her. Yep, low and outside, she thought, grinning. Ashley was a pretty good pitcher, and with Alisha catching for her, they were a great team. Trish knew the next pitch would be a change-up, high and inside. She smiled as the batter was caught off guard, swinging before the ball had even reached the plate. “Strike three! Batter’s out!” the ump called. “Yes!” the team cheered as they raced for the dugout. Coach Tim met them as they ran off the field, holding his hand out for high-fives. “Come on, girls, gather around. Nice catch out there, Trish. Beautiful strike-outs, Ashley. We’re behind by one run. Let’s swing some sticks.” The Blue Birds was a recreational fast-pitch softball team for 11- and 12-year-old girls that only played 10 games a summer. The coaches were volunteers and mostly dads of the girls on the team. Trish felt lucky that she was on Coach Tim’s team. Some of the dads didn’t even know how to play softball, let alone teach the girls to play. Coach Tim was different. He had played baseball in college, so at least he knew the game. Trish glanced around the softball complex hoping her mom might be there. She didn’t really expect to see her, but she was disappointed anyway. She heard a loud cheer come from the field behind where the Blue Birds were playing. She saw the orange and black uniforms of the Lady Tigers. Trish sighed. She would love to play for the Tigers. The coaches only picked the best-of-the-best players for the travel softball team. They played ball almost every weekend in long tournaments. “Head in the game, Trish,” Coach Tim said, refocusing her attention on her own team. “Come on, Becky, you can do it!” Trish yelled to the leadoff batter. Trish turned to read the lineup hanging on the fence. It was the top of the line-up. Trish grabbed her helmet and bat. She was batting fourth. Hearing the crack of the bat, she looked up in time to see Becky hit a short pop-up to the third baseman. The player tried to catch it, but the ball dropped in front of her, and Becky beat out the throw to first. “Batter up!” The umpire seemed in a hurry to keep the game moving. Clara quickly stepped inside the chalk-outlined rectangle of the batter’s box. The pitch came quickly on the inside corner. “Strike one.” Clara stepped out and took a few practice swings. She settled into the box again. It turned into a long wait as the pitcher threw four balls in a row. Clara jogged to first; Becky went to second. Trish watched in anticipation as Samantha moved toward home plate for her turn at bat. Trish put on a helmet and stepped out of the dugout to take a few practice swings, getting her timing down for the pitches. Samantha stepped into the box. She was tall so the outfielders backed up, anticipating that she would hit the ball far. Crack. The ball flew over the third baseman’s head, landing in the grass. The left fielder raced in and scooped up the ball, preventing the runners from scoring. Bases loaded. No outs. Trish stepped into the box. She knew she didn’t look very impressive. At only four-foot-six, she hadn’t reached her full height by a long shot. Her legs were long, slender, and solid muscle. She was used to people underestimating her, but she liked it that way. It usually worked to her advantage. Trish settled in as the pitcher began her wind up. The pitch came in. Way inside. Trish leaped out of the way. The next pitch was outside, and the catcher missed it. Becky raced past Trish to cross the plate as the fans cheered. “Just a base hit, Trish,” her coach called. “You can do it, Trish!” The fans were all cheering her on. She kept her concentration on the ball leaving the pitcher’s hand. The pitch was coming in perfect, right down the middle, ideal height. It was slow, so Trish looked at it again. It had a weird spin. She didn’t swing. Right before the plate, it dropped. “Ball three.” Trish was thankful for the many hours of extra batting practice Coach Tim had spent with her. He had shown her how to truly watch the ball. The next pitch was almost the same, but it didn’t appear to be spinning. Smack. It went over the second baseman, missing the right fielder’s glove and rolled all the way to the fence for a triple. Clara and Samantha scored as Trish rounded the bases. The fans were cheering. The score now read, “Blue Birds: 9; Redhawks: 7.” “Nice hit, Trish,” Coach Tim said, smiling broadly. Trish’s grin lit up her face. She clapped her hands and cheered on the next batter from third base. Alisha hit a nice single to left center field that allowed Trish to score. The girls lined up to high-five her as she came into the dugout. Ashley hit a fly ball to right field that cost them an out, but moved Alisha to third. Amber grounded out on a hit to second base, leaving Alisha in place. Ton-Lou flew out to left field to end the inning. The girls were in high spirits because they were winning, and the other team only had one more chance to bat. “Good inning, ladies; let’s hit the field. Hold them for three more outs,” the coach said. The first Redhawk hit the ball to Lexi on second base who easily picked it up and threw her out at first. Trish was a little nervous when the other team’s number four batter stepped to the plate. She was tall for a 12-year-old and had already hit it to the fence once this game. She took a few steps back and angled toward left field. Ashley delivered the pitch low and inside. The batter got under the ball, and it went high into foul territory on the left field side. Much to Trish’s surprise, Ashley put the next pitch in the same place. This time the batter swung and missed. Trish smiled. She knew the coaches called the pitches from the dugout. She would have to ask Coach Tim why he called two in a row the same way. That wasn’t very common. She liked to learn as much as she could about the strategy of softball, not just the technique. The third and final pitch stayed low but to the outside corner. The batter swung but didn’t even come close. Two outs. The number five batter had hit the ball to center field twice already in previous innings so Trish was ready. The batter let the first pitch go by but got ahold of the second. It was a long fly ball to deep center field. Trish immediately turned her body and began to run toward the fence. She ran full out, praying her left fielder would be there to back her up if she missed it. At the last possible second, Trish dove at where she predicted the ball would be, capturing it in her glove as she hit the ground. That ended the game; final score was 10-7, Blue Birds. The girls cheered enthusiastically. Trish couldn’t stop smiling as the coach and other girls clapped her on the back as they lined up to shake hands with the Redhawks. Even some of the opposing team members congratulated her on such a great catch. It felt wonderful! She looked around at the crowd waiting outside the fence, but there was no sign of her parents. Trish wished that they had been there to witness her final catch.

New Tween Series Hits it Out of the Park!
Trish loves softball. She is a twelve-year-old dynamo on the field and a pretty great kid off the field. She is serious about the game, but not obsessed with winning. Overall, she is mature for her age, but when she makes one bad decision it affects all aspects of her life.

In order to join the Lady Tigers Softball team she has to give up her violin lessons. Giving up her involvement in the orchestra that has been a part of her life for several years would be a hard thing for Trish to do. She loves playing the violin, and her parents have invested a lot of money in lessons and her instrument.

Her parents are very busy. They are too busy to be around on the weekends and evenings due to meetings, golf games and exhaustion from their demanding lives. Most of the time this has worked out ok, but unfortunately Trish takes advantage of their inattentiveness to deceive them.

She feels guilty and conflicted after making this choice, and soon it becomes a house of cards, threatening to crumble. Will she be able to make amends before it is too late?

This is the first book in Brotherton’s Lady Tigers Series. It is a solid story with interesting and engaging characters. The interaction of Trish with her friends and parents is refreshingly honest and reads like She shows empathy and feels guilty when she does something wrong. When her lies start to catch up with her she becomes physically sick.

It is written for young readers, deftly showing how one decision can affect many other things and people without being “preachy”. It also demonstrates how conflicted tweens are; mature and childlike while struggling to find their way to adulthood. This is not a heavy book, but it addresses many social issues in interesting ways.

5 Stars from Readers' Favorite
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

Trish has some difficult decisions to make and an important lesson to learn. She loves her violin and she loves playing in the orchestra, but she also loves playing softball. She’s very good at both and now she’s been asked to try out for a competitive softball team. The only problem is that practices for softball conflict with practices for orchestra. Her parents don’t understand her love of softball and her mother particularly insists that she continues playing the violin in the orchestra. Apparently Trish has a good chance of getting a university scholarship with her music if she continues. What can she do? She desperately wants to do both.

Trish tries to talk to her parents. Neither have watched her play softball. Her dad is always too busy at work or watching television. Her mom just doesn’t understand. There’s paperwork that needs a parent signature, so when the high school sends papers that needed signing, Trish slips the softball permission forms in with the high school papers and her dad just signs without reading. Trish is now officially on the team, but her lies are growing as she starts to skip orchestra practice for softball practice. As much as she enjoys both activities, she is frustrated with her inability to communicate her desires with her parents and she’s frustrated with the progressive way in which her lies are growing. How can she keep up this charade? Or is her world about to come tumbling down around her?

Dawn Brotherton’s young people’s novel, Trish’s Team: Lady Tigers Volume One, is an important story about dealing with life’s ever-present complications. Trish has to learn that lying won’t help her cause. She also has to learn that she can’t always have things the way she wants them. And, although she’s good at playing both the violin and softball, as a team player in both the orchestra and on the softball team she has to demonstrate her trustworthiness. After all, in a team you play together, not solo. These are very important lessons for young people to learn, but also important lessons for adults as well, not just the trustworthiness, but also the importance of listening to each other and communicating. Well done!