At the Heart of the Game review -- by D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review, and Editor, Donovan's Literary Services

December 2024

 

At the Heart of the Game

At the Heart of the Game follows seventeen-year-old softball pitcher extraordinaire River Harte to college, where she discovers that pursuing her dream at a higher level is a very different game.

Both competition and the squad she participates in operate in ways she has yet to master. Add an undercurrent of romance with a math tutor and River has her hands full not just with softball, but life.

From the start, Paula Benge embeds her story with extraordinary players and events. These are driven by the dilemma of moving from a familiar high school milieu in which softball has become a mastered art to college-level sports in which the same game has all new players and challenging routines.

River’s best game is challenged by elite-level competition. This demands she step up in extraordinary ways. Surprisingly, even her increasingly obsessive dedication to improvement does not earn her the expected achievements—or accolades:

He waits until I look up. “I’ve been doing this a long time, you know. Obsessive practice isn’t what makes the difference. Purposeful practice does. You need to focus on your snaps and relax after releasing the ball. Follow through.” He narrows his eyes. “I recognize that you’re a hard-working athlete, but don’t forget that progress is made during rest periods. You’re too tense. It’s defeating the purpose.”

When she is unjustly accused of something that could kill her budding career and college experience, River grapples with more than just love and sports. Her new mandate is to clear her name and respond to challenges far from her usual comfort zones that stem from too-adult, complex situations.

Young adult and new adult readers who choose At the Heart of the Game should have some prior interest in softball, as its rules, games, and players are the heart of River’s experiences. River’s first-person voice brings her dilemmas to life, powering a riveting play-by-play story in which the college experience feels real.

This will especially intrigue young adults on the cusp of their own higher education experiences, whether or not they are sports players, bringing more facets into play than academic challenges alone.

What do you do when your best isn’t good enough? That’s one of the key themes running through River’s experiences that give her readers food for thought and fodder for book club and group discussions:

Best softball player, Dad had said. Don’t let your team down. I hadn’t known to ask what happens after you’ve done your best and your team leaves you behind, anyway.

Libraries choosing At the Heart of the Game for its appealing image of a strong young female softball player will also be attracted to its strong psychological growth component. This makes the novel of widespread interest and attraction, highly recommendable for young adults entering college and new adults finding themselves in the eye of maturity’s storms and requirements to step up into adulthood.