Sunday Money by Maggie Hill
Young Adult, Historical Fiction 224 pages
Published May 14, 2024 by She Writes Press
It's 1971, but for Claire Joyce and girls’ basketball, it might as well be 1871. Stilted rules (three-bounce dribbling, two roving players for full-court games, and uniforms that include bloomers) set their play unfairly apart from the boys’ basketball Claire’s older brother John has trained her in.
Basketball is the only constant in Claire life, and as she enters her teen years the skills she’s cultivated on the court—passing, shooting, and faking—help her guard against the chaos of an alcoholic mother, an increasingly violent younger brother, and the downward spiral her beloved John soon finds himself unable to climb out of. Deeply cut from the cloth of the Catholic Church, Brooklyn’s working class, and the limited expectations her world has for girls, Claire strives to find a mirror that might reflect a different, future self. Then Title IX bounces on the scene. Suddenly, girls’ basketball becomes explosive, musical, passionate, and driven—and if Claire plays it just right, it just might offer a full ride to a previously out-of-reach college.
Sunday Money follows Claire as she narrates her way through 1970s Brooklyn, hustling on and off the court and striving to break free of the turmoil in her home and the rulebook “good” girls are supposed to follow.
My thoughts about Sunday Money ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)
First line—"August 1975 ~ I'm sitting in the bleachers of Immaculata's gymnasium in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Took a Greyhound to get here before the semester begins, to try out for their famous basketball team."
Sunday Monday took me back to my youth, when basketball for girls was just becoming a thing, officially. I remember playing basketball in school with 'modifications' because we were girls and couldn't be expected to play like the boys. Oh my!
Clare is a good player with a lot of things going on her personal life and with her family, as well as working hard to improve her basketball skills. As she works to 'make the team' she also has to navigate everything else.
I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday Monday as it took me back in time but I also enjoyed watching Clare come into her own and work for what she wanted in life. This is labeled as a young adult story but it will also resonate with anyone who has struggled and persevered
I received a copy of Sunday Money from the publisher and this is my honest opinion of the book.
About the author
Maggie Hill’s essays and non-fiction have been published in The New York Times, The New York Daily News, and Scholastic professional magazines. Current publications include Lakeshore Literary Review (2023 Pushcart Prize nominee), Cleaver Lit Mag, Embark Literary. She has been the recipient of several artist fellowships and residences, including Yaddo and Ragdale.
Sunday Money, a coming-of-age novel, is on sale now. ~ Author's website
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