Match Point!

by Maddie Gallegos

A debut middle grade graphic novel by Maddie Gallegos about two one who hates racquetball and another who loves it―and the strong friendship that blossoms through, and often despite, the sport.

Rosie Vo is at odds with her dad. He pushes his racquetball hobby on to her to the point that she dreads ever spending time with him. Thankfully, new kid Blair moves to town and becomes fast friends with Rosie. She's cool, a great listener, and even better, the best distraction from the tension Rosie feels at home.

Rosie’s convinced Blair is the answer to all her dad-problems. If only Blair could be the racquetball genius Rosie's dad has always wanted! But Blair disagrees, hoping to show her that with a friend by her side, Rosie can face both her dad and racquetball.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Sports, Realistic Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics, Friendship

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2023

About the author

Maddie Gallegos is passionate about girls supporting other girls, people supporting the environment, and using exclamation points whenever possible. She’s known she wanted to make comics since eighth grade, and now she gets to do it professionally!

Apart from comics, she’s trying her best to play all the sports she never did in high school, and prove the value of the flavor vanilla. She’s currently working a graphic novel for First Second, and a soccer webcomic!

Reviews

[itselv:#&309;]

تظن "روزي" أنها تكره رياضة كرة المضرب، وأنها تلعبها فقط لأن والدها يريد منها أن تفعل ذلك. لكنها تستمتع بالفعل باللعب مع صديقتها "بلير"؛ عندما لا يتعلق الأمر على الإطلاق بالفوز بل بمجرد الاستمتاع ببساطة دون جعل الموضوع عن الرغبة في التفوق على الأخرين. ليس الأمر كما لو أن والدها شرير، ليس على كل الاباء في حالاتٍ كهذه أن يكونوا شرًا خالصًا، أحيانًا يكون الأمر مجرد سوء فهم وضعف تواصل، والذي نشاهد كيف انتهت القصة بحله، تعمق الصداقة بين الفتاتين، وسعادة جميع الأطراف [: مع ذلك، يمكنك أن تلاحظ أن الكاتبة لم تضع نهاية محكمة لكل حبكة، بل إنك كقارئ تشعر أن للشخصيات حياة تستمر حتى بعد الصفحة الأخيرة، فقد تركت الكاتبة مساحة مرنة لشخصياتها لتنمو وتتطور، وبذلك كانوا بعيدين كل البعد عن أن يكونوا مجرد شخصيات أحادية البعد بهدفٍ واحدٍ فحسب، هذه الخطوة الذكية شكلت فارقًا زاد من جمال القصة ومتعتها، وربما (أتمنى) يكون ذلك وعدًا خفيًا بجزءٍ ثانٍ.

الشخصيات مليئة بالحياة ويمكن تمييزها عن بعضها البعض. استمتعت كثيرًا بالقصة والرسومات، أحببت جدًا التنوع في تصميم الشخصيات: وضع فتاة صماء في القصة دون أن يكون لإعاقتها تأثير على الحبكة، التنوع في أشكال وأحجام أجسام الشخصيات وملامحهم، تنوع الجنسيات ووجود فتاة محجبة. مناسب للأطفال والشباب والكبار أيضًا! أيًّا كان عمل الكاتبة القادم، سأكون بإذن الله من أول قارئيه!

[Lindsay (pawsomereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
This was a cute graphic novel! I liked getting to learn more about racquetball and I really enjoyed the friendship in this story. That was definitely the main highlight. It was a nice book overall and I think it would be great for older elementary to middle school aged kids.

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[nush ❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc of this delightful graphic novel in exchange for an honest review. All my thoughts are my own and not influenced in any way.

Title: Match point!
Author: Maddie Gallegos
Genre: Graphic novel, Middle grade, Sports
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

this was so adorable. a story of friendship, family and finding your fun. This story follows Rosie who's dad was a professional raquetball player. Rosie plays for her raquetball club and is being trained by her dad for an upcoming tournament. However, she despises raquetball and is only playing because her dad wants to see her win. Enter Blair, a young raquetball mini star who doesn't even know it. Rosie is amazed by Blair's abilities and immediately forms a plan where Blair takes her place in the tournament so she can win a medal in Rosie's stead and get her dad off her back. The two form a friendship from there and bond over cakes, games and dumpster diving. rosie plays side by side with blair and slowly ends up enjoying raquetball.

i rlly enjoyed this story. there was a deaf character as well as racially and ethnically diverse characters. i liked the way they resolved their conflict. it felt so good to see them talk about their feelings openly. i enjoyed seeing the resolution of rosie struggle with jealousy of blair and her family getting along while she didn't feel as connected to her dad. Blair's family was so wholesome. i rlly liked Blair's character. she was very passionate about what she liked, so loyal and kind and so so loveable. overall, a great read.

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5

Themes:
Racquetball
Friendship

Rosie and Blair both play racquetball. Blair loves the sport, but Rosie dreads playing. When the two become friends, Blair encourages Rosie to play for fun rather than competition. But due to Rosie’s pushy and winning-obsessed father, Rosie struggles to have fun under the pressure. Can their friendship blossom in the face of the School Youth Racquetball Competition?

Match Point! Is a fun and action-packed sports graphic novel about friendship and racquetball. I’m not a sporty person so knew very little about the sport. Some aspects of racquetball I struggled to understand in the graphic novel format, but the artwork was fun and suited the story well. Rosie’s father I don’t think deserved the redemption he received. I feel like Rosie and the other characters should have been much harsher towards him. His explanation for his behaviour was sub-par and made no sense. Overall I’m glad with how the story finished. I loved reading about Blair’s other hobby; dumpster diving. It was a lot of fun!
If you love sports graphic novels or middle-grade reads about friendship, I encourage you to pick this one up!

Thank you to the publisher First Second Books for providing me an e-copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a wholesome and adorable graphic novel, suitable for young and older children.

About two girls, one who hates raquetball because of her dad's pressure in training, and another who really loves the game and its world. they quickly become friends and reveal all their inseccurities to each other, becoming better. I also liked that the parents ghere were willing to listen and learn from the children.

The humor was nice, there's a lot of diverse side characters (loved the inclusion of a deaf chracater, haven't seen that since reading the tea dragon society graphic novels), the art was cute, and though I'm not a sporty girls, I enjoyed it.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Honestly, it felt like the author was hinting at queerness in the characters featured here, but nothing was ever confirmed visually or in the text. Still a good read, but I don't quite understand what was happening there.

[Sas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous book about friendship, family, and racquetball.

[J MaK · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.4) A love and hate for Racquetball forges an unexpected bond where friends learn much more about each other.

[D.T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the stylized artwork, but some of the dialogue sounded unnatural. I've also discovered I don't like racquetball lol.

Blair was way too nice; some people would've told Rosie the old and the new. The resolution with the dad was very light for the amount of overbearing and critical he was. But I think Rosie's emotional capacity was spot-on; middle schoolers are dealing with big feelings which are hard to express, sometimes.

[Shaunna MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong 3.5 stars

[Stephanie Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute graphic novel about a friendship between 2 girls one who loves racquetball and one who hates it. Rosie’s dad keeps pushing his hobby of racquetball at her and she is just not good at playing it and actually dreads hanging out with her dad because of it. New kid Blair moves to town and she loves racquetball so when Rosie meets her and they become friends she has the best idea that Blair can play as her in the tournament and win a medal for her so she can stop having to play and show her dad that she could do it. I love that Rosie plays with Blair and her family and has a great time but when she plays with her dad afterwards he is just pressuring her so much to be great like him since what he enjoyed about the sport was winning medals and he keeps making the game not fun for her. All in all a great book about friendship and believing in yourself.
Thanks to First Second Books and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Netgalley provided me a DRC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So...I'm definitely not the target audience for this book (unless you count the fact that I purchase middle grade books for my school library). I'm not even remotely interested in racquetball, which made it feel like I was slugging through this at time. There's a LOT of racquetball action--which younger sports fans might appreciate and enjoy.

The most interesting plotline for me was Rosie's complicated relationship with her father. Though well-intentioned, the pressure he put Rosie under was frustrating...and I would have loved to see that end with a little more development instead of just being "all better" after one talk.

Not bad, I'm just pretty picky when it comes to graphic novels.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The art was really pretty, the font used was readable and the diversity was so heart warming to read. But something about the final message just doesn't sit right with me. I wish we could've spent a little more time with Rosie's dad's apology, because it was brushed off quite quickly. Also I'm not really sure if I like her relationship with racquetball in the end - I thought we were moving towards the complete opposite, which would've been more interesting to read. But overall it was a good story, it managed to tackle quite a few topics apart from doing sports.

[Miss_Cultura · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked most about this book were the characters, the plot and the original way of making the characters evolve in a natural way.
The trigger or the conflict of Match Point! may have to do with sports, but it goes far beyond this, as it talks about confidence, about believing in oneself, about having one's own voice and expressing what one feels, how one feels?
I read it in a heartbeat, but I had to read it again to be able to grasp or assimilate more hidden concepts.
The characters are so disparate and so complex that I fell in love with them and their different points of view.

[Mark Will Never Cry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have quite a couple of thoughts about this book. The focus of the story is on the friendship between Rosie and Blair, which is also one of the biggest problems for me. From the very start I found the friendship between them to not be incredibly healthy. Rosie's main way of navigating the relationship was through buying Blair things, usually snacks, which is how they began talking in the very beginning and I felt that it always remained a big part of their friendship, which is not the best idea for a thing that connects people. From Blair's side, her way of staying in the friendship was her keeping to the promise, that she will take Rosie's spot in the competition, which also wasn't great.
Of course, there were also good parts in their friendship, but I really felt that for most of the story Rosie just wasn't a really good friend and Blair had to put up with her rather than feel like she was in a supporting friendship from both sides.
However, it is not all bad, I enjoyed the story and the art was amazing, so I will probably read from this author again, but really hope that they have a healthier dynamic between the characters next time.

Random notes that I wrote to myself while reading the book, because they still feel important, but it is hard to really put them in:

I really do not like the idea of Blair winning a medal, that will not have her name on it. It will be her achievement that Rosie did nothing for, so it feels incredibly weird that it would have Rosie's name on it

Blair stated before that she is fine with people calling her Hayden, so it feels weird that Rosie insists on others calling her Blair, when Blair said that she is okay with both

It's not like Blair's parents wanted to coach Rosie because she is bad, they were just worried about a kid, who is clearly in their mind and super stressed

Benny basically said the exact same thing that Miles said, both of them insisted that Rosie tries to do something again and not give up after the second try, but she was never interested in talking to Miles

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosie’s dad loved racketball when he was growing up. He won allsorts of medals for the game, and he wants Rosie to have as much fun playing as he did. Problem is, she doesn’t like the game. She is not good at it, and she doesn’t care if she ever gets better.

Blair lives and breathes racketball, and so Rosie thinks that if she could switch places with Blair, then her Dad would finally be happy, and then she could quit the game and do something more fun.

Problem is, if it is a problem, Rosie loves playing with Blair, and doesn’t hate it quite so much. She still doesn’t want to play, but she does love playing with Blair.

What I liked about this story was that it really doesn’t wrap up in a neat little blow. That the characters probably have more growing to do, long after we close the book.

Rosie has a nemesis, who is Deaf, but that doesn’t become the sticking point of the story, It is just what she is. I love the friendship that the two have, and continue to have whether Rosie ever plays the game again. The pictures are wild and imaginative, with a lot of movement, which they should, being about a very physical game.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.Coming out from First Second books Sept 19th, 2023.

[Scarleth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and FirstSecond for the oportunity of read this graphic novel in exchange of an honest review.

Casi casi le doy 5 estrellas.

Fue una lectura entretenida e interesante, con muy buenas viñetas que complementan y construyen la historia. Nos habla de las relaciones familiares, la amistad, la rivalidad; además de que el deporte está constantemente presente en la trama.

Mediante estos tópicos principales, se tocan también otros más sensibles, como la aceptación personal, la lucha contra metas poco realistas y cuánto daño le pueden producir a una persona (en especial una niña) los comentarios negativos de sus seres queridos. Creo que esta historia, pese a lo corta que puede llegar a ser, por lo rápido que se lee, entrega mucho y eso es importante.

Además, el acercamiento que existe en esta historia a la cultura sorda y la lengua de signos es estupendo, muy natural y necesario. Visibilizar estas situaciones cotidianas ayuda mucho a la integración social, más aun si está en historias orientadas a niños y adolescentes.

Ideal para pequeños lectores, niños, adolescentes y todo público que quiera pasar un buen rato siguiendo la vida de una pequeña que detesta el ráquetbol hasta que conoce a otra que lo ama.

¡Muy recomendado!

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been needing a wholesome read like this. Rosie is such a lovable character. Her easy jokester side and scheming skills were fun to read. I couldn't help but feel for her as her dad seriously was not listening to her about her hatred of racquetball which he gave her with his competitive side. I think the resolution to that was a little too easy since there was a good amount of conflict and negativity Rosie felt toward herself for not being good enough. On the other hand, her friendship with Blair was so sweet. I liked their easy banter and how much they cared about each other. I did find it weird that Blair's hobby was dumpster diving (other than racquetball). Even though she was bullied for being weird adding that particular hobby for a child to have is weird. It would make more sense if her nerdiness for racquetball made people necessarily mean to her. But otherwise, the art was great and so was the friendship. Nice, quick read.

[Brittny's Book Talk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely picked up towards the end. The constant 'like' in every sentence slightly killed me. But honestly this whole book triggered me so much 😭

[S.E. Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun graphic novel! Perfect for middle schoolers trying to find their place in the world. Also learned way more about racketball than I ever thought I needed to know, and honestly, it sounds pretty fun!

[Nancy Loredo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the most tender and healing readings I have ever read.
Through Rosie and Blair we can explore how powerful friendship can be, especially when you go through changes growing up, changes in the family and the way we get along with others.
It has the perfect mix between funny and serious moments to make Mach Point an unforgettable story.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGally for the ARC.

[Lost in Book Land · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello Again,

I have read a ton of books so far this year, but I am so behind on my reviews! So I am trying to catch up while I continue to read! So be on the lookout for a large variety of reviews coming your way. In the meantime, while doing some reviews one day, I decided to pick up my E-ARC from Netgalley of Match Point. (A massive thank you to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions). I love a good graphic novel and Match Point’s cover and summary called to me immediately!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Rosie lives with her dad and is forced to play racquetball, like a lot. Her dad wants her to win a trophy or a medal in racquetball and he pushes Rosie very hard to achieve this dream. They practice together pretty much constantly, and during the practices he criticizes nearly everything she does or tries. Rosie has developed a hate towards racquetball now. But as the school year is gearing up, Rosie meets Blair. Blair is the new kid in town, seems really really cool and loves racquetball. Rosie begins to hang out with Blair, both inside and outside of school. Outside of school, Rosie meets Blair’s family and sees that things not just with her dad but also with racquetball could be much much different.

Overall, I really loved this graphic novel. The illustrations were amazing, with the colors popping off the pages. I was super interested in learning more about both Blair and Rosie. They each had very different lives and it was interesting to see them becoming such great friends and watching Rosie learn how to love racquetball again! This graphic novel comes out on September 19th 2023, I definitely recommend picking it up and giving it a try!

Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars

**Thank you so much again to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rosie Vo absolutely hates playing racquetball. She hates it with a deep and burning passion. She's also pretty bad at it, which definitely doesn't help. This is a major problem in her life because Rosie's dad loves racquetball. He was a champion in his day and seems to think that with enough practice and hard work, Rosie will be too. She very much disagrees with this, but nothing will convince her dad. All Rosie wants is to be done with racquetball, and all her dad wants is for her to win a medal. So that's the deal. She can quit after she wins her first medal. Rosie knows this will never happen, and so, over the years has hatched forty-one ridiculous plots to get out of it. But each plan has failed.

Until one day, plot forty-two is born. It all starts with Erika Garcia - Rosie's racquetball rival. Truth be told, it is kind of a one-sided rivalry, because Rosie definitely doesn't care at all and wonders if it's even possible to have a rivalry when she and Erika have gone head to head in the last four championships in a match for...last place. But on the day plot forty-two is born, Erika's taunting makes Rosie go flying head over heels off her bike only to land (face first) right in front of the new girl. Blair's just moved to town and seems really cool. Her only flaw is that just like Rosie's dad, Blair loves racquetball. However, this turns out very helpful for Rosie and she enlists Blair's help for her best plan yet - one that will surely get her out of playing forever.

This sports graphic novel has bright and colorful illustrations, intense racquetball matches, realistic and loveable characters, and lots of humor.

Generally recommended online for ages 10+ and grades 4th-6th

[Rebecca Shelton · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Match Point" is a graphic novel that explores the pressures of parental expectations and the journey of self-discovery through the sport of racquetball. The story centers on Rosie Vo, who despises racquetball due to the immense pressure exerted by her racquetball-obsessed father, Miles. Despite her aversion to the sport, Rosie harbors a desire to defeat Erica Garcia, the girl she competes with for last place every year.

Rosie's outlook begins to change with the arrival of Hayden Blair, a new kid in town who quickly becomes friends with her. Blair turns out to be a racquetball prodigy, and Rosie believes she has found a solution to her problem by getting Blair to take her place in the tournament. Rosie envisions Blair winning the tournament and bringing pride to the Vo family name. However, Blair sees through Rosie's plan and understands that it's not truly what Rosie wants. Blair takes it upon herself to show Rosie how enjoyable racquetball can be, hoping this will change Rosie's perspective and improve her situation.

The novel is well-written and features good illustrations, which enhance the storytelling. However, the central premise, which revolves around Rosie's father bullying her into playing a sport she dislikes, is problematic. The resolution, where the father suddenly realizes his mistake and claims he would have stopped if he had known, feels unconvincing and too neatly wrapped up, as it overlooks the fact that he was aware of Rosie's feelings all along. Despite this, the friendship between Rosie and Blair is enjoyable to watch and adds a positive element to the narrative. The book captures the struggles of dealing with parental pressure while highlighting the importance of finding one's own path and enjoying activities for the right reasons.

[Carin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosie’s dad forces her to play tons of racquetball, even though she doesn’t like it at all and thinks she’s no good. They have conflicting ways of motivating, and everything he says sounds like criticism to her. She quits, when she’s first taunted by her biggest rival, and then meets a new girl, who loves racquetball. Rosie comes up with a plan to get her dad off her back permanently. Her new friend, Blair, can play in her place in the tournament and get a trophy or medal with Rosie’s name on it, and then she can officially be done.

As they hang out together and practice so that Blair can play, Rosie is struck by Blair’s family’s closeness, and also surprised they think she’s a good player. (And as a new Marylander, I loved that Blair’s family, despite having moved away from Maryland, still see to love it, Old Bay and crabs and all.) Rosie seems to also need practice in making and keeping friends as her skill set there could use some work and she really hurts Blair’s feelings. There are a lot of lessons to be learned, including how resentment builds and is toxic, how one person’s opinion isn’t a fact, and how friends need to trust each other and not use each other to truly be friends. Of course it’s also nice to see a Black family playing and excelling at a traditionally white-coded sport like racquetball.

The drawings are fun and dynamic even for someone like me who doesn’t know the first thing about racquetball. You don’t have to know the shots or understand the game to follow the story. A great middle grade graphic novel about friendship.

This book is published by First Second, a division of Macmillan, my employer, so I got the book free through work.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle grade graphic novel, where the main character rediscovers her love for her sport when she's out from under the thumb of her demanding father. In this case, it's racquetball, but kids in any sport could relate to how her very driven father drains all the fun out of the sport. It's only by making friends with someone who still loves the sport, and who has a family who is competitive in a healthy way, for her to remember that it's all supposed to be fun. Our characters don't turn into incredible racquetball players, but they do learn how to have a good time on the court. There's a weirdly competitive rival that I didn't care for, though I did like the deaf representation. Kind of cool that the deaf character isn't the focus of the book, and that even though she's kind of a pill everyone learns sign language to have exasperated conversations with her nonetheless. I was also really surprised to see dumpster diving as a minor story element here! I'm genuinely not sure of the advisability of making jumping into dumpsters behind gas stations look cool to middle graders, but it was definitely a unique hobby. Very fun to read, with cute and expressive art.

[Niche · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MG GN with two main plotlines, Rosie, the protagonist, dealing with her father's expectations and pressure to perform well at racquetball and her friendship with Blair, the new girl who's skilled at racquetball. Rosie hatches a plan to have Blair take her place in the upcoming tournament to win the prize and get her father off her back so she can quit racquetball. Along the way, the girls bond.

It's MG, so the complex dynamics with her father aren't exactly the best written, but the essence was there even if the resolution is pretty fast. The main draw for me was the friendship between Rosie and Blair, them playing, practicing, hanging out with friends, and dealing with Rosie's very enthusiastic deaf rival, Erika, by trash talking each other in ASL. Erika is also notably drawn with the same amount of arm hair as the adult men, I'm not sure if that was meant to be trans-coded or simply acknowledging that women have body hair. The distinction being somewhat significant as I have a shelf specific to if an author can write a story that has no romance and LGBTQ+ major characters in it.

I digress... Friendship! Sports! No Romance!

[Liv CG · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so glad to read MATCH POINT, a sweet middle grade graphic novel set in the world of racquetball. Rosie wants nothing more than for her winning-focused dad to get off her back and let her quit the sport she has come to despise. Then she meets new girl Blair, a humble but totally talented racquetball player, and Rosie hatches a plan. To be honest, I've never even seen a racquetball match, let alone play, so it was really cool to learn about the sport!

This book hits the sweet spot for my classroom library of being both a graphic novel and about sports, so I know it will always be in students' hands this fall. I appreciate that it has some awesome representation - not just of a sport we don't hear about often, but also racially and single-parent family rep too. I think a lot of my students will connect with Rosie and her relationship struggles with her dad, while others will totally get Blair's situation as the new kid who wants a fresh start.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance digital copy of the book!

[Emily Deibert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to First Second and NetGalley for the eARC!

MATCH POINT! is a really cute middle grade contemporary graphic novel about friendship, sports, and believing in yourself. I think this would appeal to fans of the MG contemporary novel Sidetracked.

Rosie's dad has one goal for her: he wants her to follow in his footsteps and become a racquetball champion. But Rosie does NOT like racquetball, and she's definitely not champion-material. But that may change when she makes friends with new girl Blair...

I loved learning about racquetball through the story — I've read a lot of sports-related MG but this was a sport I hadn't seen before! The story itself was really cute and heartwarming, with lots of humour throughout. I loved the diversity in the different side characters in the story, and thought the friendship drama was really realistically portrayed.

The illustrations were cute and colourful, with some great sports sequences throughout. This was a really fun graphic novel and I'll definitely check out future work from the author!