LADY TIGERS IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE How Softball and Sisterhood Saved Lives in the South Bronx

There's an appropriate grittiness in Joniece Abbott-Pratt's narration of this inspiring true story of a girls' softball coach who changed the lives of his players in a fierce middle school in the South Bronx. Abbott-Pratt has a rhythmic style and a youthful tone that seem appropriate for both the narrative and the dialogue between the girls and their coach. At times, though, the writing and narration sound less like journalism and more like a young adult novel. But, overall, listeners will be fascinated as Dibs Baer's in-depth reporting takes listeners inside the world of these troubled but remarkably resilient kids, many of whom endured lives of abuse and violence. D.B. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2019]