Bea Mullins is not good at sports. That’s just a fact she’s accepted after a lifetime of athletic humiliation. But when her middle school’s gym floods and she’s forced to join an after-school sport to compensate for PE class, she’s persuaded to join the Glenwood Geese, her school’s new all-girls hockey team. As it turns out, Bea might be from a family of die-hard hockey fans, but she’s anything but a natural on the ice. Still, she doesn’t want to let down her sporty best friend, Celia, or her new teammates, especially her new cool co-captain, Gabi, so she tries to give it her best shot. But when low funding for the Geese threatens her team’s future, Bea will have to learn to face her fears on the ice.
Bea Mullins Takes a Shot is an utterly delightful sports story. Bea as a protagonist is incredibly easy to root for as she works to overcome her anxiety and low self-esteem around sports to find community and pride in her team. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the rules of hockey, Deibert crafts an accessible coming-of-age tale that gives enough information on the mechanics of the sport without being dry or overwhelming. Woven in with Bea’s personal journey is commentary on the underfunding and undercoverage of women’s sports. The Glenwood Geese may be a new hockey team struggling to get off the ground, but the equivalent boy’s hockey team has plenty of funding and support in contrast. Paralleling the Geese’s challenges as a school team are the challenges faced by professional female hockey players, who are given less funding, air time, and cultural value than their male counterparts. Deibert also includes an author’s note about the formation of the PWHL and the hope of a more equal playing field for female hockey players in the future, adding further depth to the story.
As well as learning to believe in her athletic potential, Bea also comes to realize that her feelings for Gabi are more than just athletic awe. It’s a sweet story of a first crush that, refreshingly, isn’t complicated by the specter of homophobia. Bea isn’t worried about her feelings for Gabi because they’re both girls–it’s just a big new feeling that she’s coming to terms with. Bea isn’t wracked by fear that her friends and family won’t be accepting, but just by worries of how to balance a friendship and her new crush or how to tell if she’s on a date or just platonically hanging out.
Balancing a sweet coming-of-age arc with the exhilarating joy of team sports, Bea Mullins Takes a Shot is a heartfelt and refreshing addition to the world of middle grade literature.
Content warnings: cyberbullying, parental separation, discussions of misogyny against female athletes
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