A Coretta Scott King Honor Book

The thrilling secondbook in the #1New York Timesbestselling Door of No Return trilogy stars Kofis granddaughter, Charley, whos set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball but who soon has to contend with the tensions about to boil over in her segregated town.

You cant protect her from knowing. The truth is all we have.

12-year old Charley Cuffey is many things: a granddaughter, a best friend, and probably the best pitcher in all of Lees Mill. Set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball, Charley doesnt need reminders from her best friend Cool Willie Green to know that she has lofty dreams for a Black girl in the American South.

Even so, Nana Kofis thrilling stories about courageous ancestors and epic journeys make it impossiblenotto dream big. She knows he has so many more to tell, but according to her parents, she isnt old enough to know about certain things like what happened to Booker Preston that one night in Great Bridge and why she can never play on the brand-new real deal baseball field on the other side of town.

When Charley challenges a neighborhood bully to a game at the church picnic, she knows she can win, even with her ragtag team. But when the picnic spills over onto their ball field, she makes a fateful decision.

A child cannot protect herself if she does not know her history, and Charleys choice brings consequences she never could have imagined.

In this riveting second book of the Door of No Return trilogy, set during the turbulent segregation era, and the beginning of The Great Migration, Kwame Alexander weaves a spellbinding story of struggle, determination, and the unflappable faith of an American family.

Page Count: 384 pages
PublisherLittle, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN – 9780316442596