Reviews - The All-American

83 reviews for:

The All-American

Susie Finkbeiner

4.12 AVERAGE

lindsiemcknight's review

3.5

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

susannagledhillrecommends's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

emmasbookdiary's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

“I can’t change the pain, but I can fight to remember the good in everything.”

I haven’t loved a book this much in a while. That ending. *sobs* My heart hurts❤️😭

There are so many things I loved about this book. I loved that it’s told from the perspective of two young girls growing up in the 1950s. I loved that it was emotional (I teared up more than once) and that it was also funny (I laughed out loud several times. These girls had the best humor!)

I love that Bertha is a bit like Jo March and Flossie is a mix between Anne Shirley and Amy March.

I absolutely loved the family dynamics in this book and that family truly is the heart of this story. I loved the sister relationship portrayed in this book and I LOVED the father-daughter relationships in this book. It was beautiful!

I absolutely adored the 1950s setting! I loved every one of the characters except for the not so likable ones. I loved Bertha and Flossie, Mam and their dad, Chippy and Peggy, Uncle Matthew and Lizzie… oh and I loved Leo too! I loved the friendship Leo and Bertha had (I truly wish I knew what became of them!) Honestly every one of the characters felt real to me and I found all of them interesting.

The author wrote from the perspective of a preteen and a teen so, so well. It didn’t feel juvenile at all. It felt authentic. From page one, Bertha and Flossie came alive for me and I enjoyed every minute of their story.

This book broke my heart and put it back together. It made me laugh and it made me cry. It was beautifully written. I can honestly say I haven’t read a book I’ve enjoyed so much in a long while.

If you’re a fan of the 1950s, baseball, and historical fiction that comes alive, I think you’ll love this book!

Content Warnings

aprilslibrary's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

“I can't change the pain, but I can fight to remember the good in everything.”

This story follows two sisters, Bertha and Flossie, and their family in 1952. Bertha wants to play baseball. That’s her passion in life. Flossie loves to read. Life is good for their family, their mother always has tea and biscuits for them when they come home from school, just like when she was growing up in England. Their dad is a well known author who is in the middle of writing his next American novel. Everything comes crashing down when their neighbor accuses their father of being a part of the communist party. This changes everything for them. I think because of the tone of the story and the age of the girls, this story really brought me back to my days of reading American Girl books and learning history and hard truths while also having fun and entertaining narrators to guide you along. Finkbeiner does a great job at creating a surprisingly fun narrative while bringing us along for a ride that isn’t all sunshine. I really enjoyed the characters in this story and felt like I knew them well. This one should definitely be on your tbr if it isn’t!

*I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher. My opinions are all my own.