I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great book. I loved the 1992 movie A League of Their Own and I also loved the Netflix TV show, so it was nice to learn more about one of the people who inspired the movie and show!

I loved reading the true story of the real-life "All the way, May"! There was so much I didn't know, and I cannot express enough how much I appreciate how she paved the way for us girls who just loved to play ball. I was surprised, saddened, and inspired through reading this book and I only wish the world knew May's true story much earlier. How supportive May's family was in regards to her playing ball, building fields where there were none, and advocating for teams when she was told no, May was truly inspirational. I did think author Kat D. Williams' writing could have been more polished. There were times where the writing felt almost amateurish and repetitive. But May's life is compelling enough that this didn't keep me from turning the pages.

**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**

I loved learning more about Maybelle Blair's life who was a former women's professional baseball player as part of the All American girls professional Baseball league and one of the lady's who inspired a league of our own. Both the movie and tv show. I would have enjoyed learning more about her baseball career but I still enjoyed this one. And learned a lot.

I wanted to love this because I loved A League of Their Own and played softball as a kid. The idea and source material was super interesting to me, but the execution fell flat for me. The writing style constantly left me wanting more and I couldn't stay focused on reading.

A great look into the life of Maybelle Blair. Loved reading more about her time in the women's basebal league, such an interesting time in sports!
Strongly written and full of interesting facts about a former women's baseball player!

As soon as I saw the cover, I knew I wanted to read this book. I have watched A League of Their Own so many times.It’s one of my favorite moviesALL TIME. All The way is the story of Maybelle Blair (played by Madonna) I learned so much about May through this book. I didn’t know how much she has been an advocate for women’s sports - especially softball - even from a young age.

Did not like cause i did not know she was gay nothing else to say im done bkah blah blah ......mmmmmm1

A great book for women on the life of the Famous Baseball player. Inspiring for woman interested in sports about the growth and pioneers of the women’s sports programs that have paved the way

I never really heard of Maybelle Blair, so I was excited to read about her life and the baseball element. It was everything that I was looking for and was engaged with the story being told. It had that biographical element that I wanted and enjoyed the overall feel of this book. Kat D. Williams has a strong writing style and was glad I got to read this.

Thank you, Rowman & Littlefield, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I just finished All The Way: The Life of Baseball Trailblazer Maybelle Blair, by Kat D. Williams.

This book will be published on March 18, 2025.

This was a biography of former women’s baseball player Maybelle Blair. After her career in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, she was involved in A League Of Their Own, both the Perry Marshall directed film as well as the one season Amazon series.

The book focused more on her life off the field, including her efforts to preserve the league’s history, her involvement in their players association, with a lot on the obstacles she faced as a gay woman and how many lesbians there were in the league.

This was a short book, but I also found it to be the right length. A longer book would have felt like too much would have to be added just as filler, while a shorter one would have felt incomplete,

I give this book a B.

Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a B equates to 3 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

I finished reading this on November 23, 2024.