Kelcey Ervick’s exuberant and engaging graphic memoir is the story of her love of soccer–which began when she was a goalie for a youth soccer team in the 1980s–as well as a lively celebration of girl athletes and the role of sports and Title IX, the landmark law prohibiting gender discrimination, in transforming the lives of American girls and women for the better. The book follows Ervick’s life-long passion for soccer, adding cheeky segments on the history of women in sports and soccer (or football) beginning in the 19th century on through contemporary feminist and literary sources, all presented through a delightful collection of her drawings and cleverly manipulated photographs and period artworks. In this eight-page excerpt we meet Ervick in 1983: she’s just turned 12 years old and has been chosen as the goalkeeper for the Cardinals, a girls youth soccer team in Cincinati, Ohio. The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women’s Lives by Kelcey Ervick will be published this month by Penguin Random House’s Avery imprint.
