Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh By Uma Krishnaswami (Grades 4-6)

Maria Singh, nine, is eager to play softball for Yuba City, California's first-ever girls' team. The Second World War is still going strong in the spring of 1945. Maria's teacher, Miss Newman, decides to form a girls' softball team at their school after being inspired by Babe Ruth and the All-American Girls' League.

Maria's parents, Papi from India and Mamá from Mexico, are unable to shield their kids from discriminatory laws and discrimination in the meantime. Maria must determine whether she has what it takes to stand out and find her voice in an unjust society as the family is in danger of losing their land.