41 pages • 1 hour read
Nic StoneFast Pitch
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Cultural Context: Black American History with Sports
Content Warning: This section of the Guide discusses themes surrounding racism and sexism in sports, including intimidation. Additionally, the source text uses outdated and offensive terms for Black people throughout, which is replicated in this guide only in direct quotes of the source material.
The Black community has a long and tenuous history within American sports. Though sports were among the first institutions to allow Black individuals to participate, sports were not free from racial prejudices and were frequently segregated. Some significant “first” Black players in primary sports included Moses Fleetwood Walker in baseball; Lucy Diggs Stowe, the first Black woman to win a tennis title; and Sherman “Jocko” Maxwell, the first Black sportscaster.
The prominence of Black baseball players rose in the late 1940s when Jackie Robinson joined Major League Baseball. The Dodgers signing Robinson was significant because, beginning in the 1880s, Black players were relegated to separate, segregated leagues, referred to as the “Negro Leagues,” which the novel highlights through Shenice’s great-grandfather, JonJon. After Robinson joined the Dodgers in 1947, he officially broke the “color line” in baseball and became a highly decorated player with a successful career. His success paved the way for future generations of children who aspired—and continue to aspire—to pursue a career in professional sports.
Fast Pitch explores several tensions in youth ball sports, including tensions and biases surrounding race and gender. Though Stone uses a contemporary setting for her novel, she draws on prejudices that have plagued sports and challenges her audiences to question their own prejudices. She also challenges readers to examine the layers of impacts and experiences that shape a player, rather than accepting surface-level biases that negatively affect both individuals and the community.
Historical Context: Racial Prejudice and the Civil Rights Movement
Fast Pitch uses the historical and ideological contexts of racial discrimination and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States as a backdrop for Shenice’s story. Though Jackie Robinson broke the color line and opened the baseball field for players of all colors, the rest of the United States took time to catch up. The Dodgers signing Robinson in 1947 inspired others to use their platforms and voices to organize and amplify the voices of all Black Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. credited Robinson for leading the way and creating space for everyone.
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States began in 1954, and many individuals would continue the fight across the next decade. While the movement had a nationwide impact, efforts were concentrated in the South—where Fast Pitch is set—as the southern United States had enacted and enforced discriminatory Jim Crow laws since after the Civil War. Protestors like Rosa Parks, public speakers like Martin Luther King, Jr., and many others spoke up about and fought against the discrimination they faced daily.
Due to immense pressure and mobilization, legislation began to catch up, and Congress passed laws prohibiting discrimination based on race. Some of the most influential pieces of legislation were the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. These acts aimed to prevent racial discrimination and segregation based on race, providing Black Americans new opportunities to vote, obtain housing, and enter public spaces legally. Though these pieces of legislation helped counter discrimination by making it illegal, prejudice remains. The United States continues to fight many of the same social battles from the ‘60s in the 21st century.
The protagonist’s team, the Firebirds, face discrimination and racism every day when they step onto the baseball field. Some of the novel’s central conflicts focus on how the characters address the racial prejudices they face and how they work to prove those prejudices wrong. While bringing these heavy topics to the forefront, Stone keeps her middle-grade audience in mind and illustrates these issues via language and scenarios that younger readers can understand.
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