Swinging into History
Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball's First Woman Player

Debut author Karen Swanson has written an interesting biography that is sure to inspire young girls. As a youngster, "Tomboy" Stone faced both gender and racial discrimination. Baseball was a boy's sport, but she preferred cleats to ice skates and would not be deterred. The book begins with a quote......more

With fighting spirit and a love of the game of baseball, this biography features the story of the first Black woman Big-League player Toni Stone. Marcenia Stone, nicknamed Tomboy, knew from an early age that her dream was to play baseball, and that nothing would stop her from playing - though many w......more

Swanson tells the story of Toni Stone Field who had a passion for baseball. She faced numerous obstacles throughout her life for being a Black girl wanting to play baseball and not softball. She was born in 1921. As a child, she kept asking to play baseball with the boys and was continually rejected......more

I am so happy this book exists. I must admit, the way this book is told feels like it's trying to both be a report on Toni Stone - with specific cited sources and quotations - and narrative nonfiction. I don't think it quite works, because I think this would have been stronger had the author chosen o......more

This is a nonfiction biography of a real girl who grew up and broke barriers. Toni Stone was the first woman of any color to break into professional baseball, and she is Black, too! She was a tomboy who never gave up and took any available help to improve her game until she made it and did her very b......more