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Playing for Keeps

Name: Playing for Keeps
Price: 12.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Jennifer Dugan
ISBN: 9780593696880

Paperback $12.99

Published on Apr 15, 2025 | 336 Pages

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Hardcover $19.99

Published on Apr 30, 2024 | 320 Pages

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Published on Apr 30, 2024 | 320 Pages

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Published on Apr 30, 2024 | 8 Hours 15 Minutes

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Published on Apr 15, 2025 | 336 Pages

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From the author of Some Girls Do comes another heartfelt YA sapphic romance—starring a baseball pitcher and a student umpire who are definitely not supposed to fall for one another. Now in paperback!

“Sapphic sports romance perfection. Swoony and romantic, but unafraid to tackle grief, family expectations, and fighting for your dreams, this is a home run of a book.” —Rachael Lippincott, coauthor of the #1 New York Times Bestsellers Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl

June is the star pitcher of her elite club baseball team—with an ego to match—and she’s a shoo-in to be recruited at the college level, like her parents have always envisioned. That is, if she can play through an overuse injury that has recently gone from bad to worse.

Ivy isn’t just reffing to pay off her athletic fees or make some extra cash on the side. She wants to someday officiate at the professional level, even if her parents would rather she go to college instead.

The first time they cross paths, Ivy throws June out of a game for grandstanding. Still, they quickly grow from enemies to begrudging friends . . . and then something more. But the rules state that players and umpires are prohibited from dating.

As June’s shoulder worsens, and a rival discovers the girls’ secret and threatens to expose them, everything the two have worked so hard for is at risk. Now both must choose: follow their dreams . . . or follow their hearts?

Praise for Playing for Keeps:

An ALA Rainbow Book List Selection

“This sweet romance is a home run.” —People magazine

“Charming . . . Without sacrificing the banter or sincerity that make up this winning romance, Dugan skillfully crafts parallel story lines in which the weight of loss and pressure to succeed haunt the protagonists throughout their everyday lives as they work toward their own futures.” —Publishers Weekly

“A satisfying queer sports romance, deepened by the emotional complexity of bigger topics . . . Breathtakingly real.” —School Library Journal

“[A] voice-driven, absorbing dual narrative . . . Ivy’s and June’s flawed coping strategies clash with their adorable budding romance, propelling them toward gut-wrenching heartbreak and terrifying, necessary, affirming new choices . . . A page-turner that handles heavy topics with wisdom.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Baseball and forbidden love—what more could you want in a YA romance novel?” —Brightly

“Playing for Keeps is sapphic sports romance perfection. Swoony and romantic, but unafraid to tackle grief, family expectations, and fighting for your dreams, this is a home run of a book.” —Rachael Lippincott, coauthor of the #1 New York Times Bestsellers Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl

ISBN9780593696880

Published onApr 15, 2025

Published byG.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Pages336

Dimensions5-1/2 x 8-1/4

Age Range12 and up

GradeGrade 7 & Up

Reading LevelLexile: 840L

Author

Jennifer Dugan

Jennifer Dugan is an awkward romantic who writes across many genres and categories. Her debut young adult novel, Hot Dog Girl, was called a “great fizzy rom-com” by Entertainment Weekly and “one of the best reads of the year, hands down” by Paste Magazine, although she is best known for Some Girls Do, which took TikTok by storm. Her other novels include Girls Like Us, the sequel to Some Girls Do; Summer Girls; Playing for Keeps; The Last Girls Standing; and Melt With You. Jennifer has also collaborated with artist Kit Seaton on the graphic novels Full Shift and Coven, which was a GLAAD Outstanding Original Graphic Novel Nominee. She lives in upstate New York.

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Playing for Keeps

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Age Range: 12 and up

Age Range: 12 and up

Age Range: 12 and up

Age Range: 12 and up

Book Description

Related Genres

Praise

Product Details

You May Also Like

On the Bright Side

10 Things I Hate About Prom

Rules for Rule Breaking

Exes & Foes

Always Isn’t Forever

Every Time You Hear That Song

Prince of the Palisades

Give Me a Sign

Melt With You

Viva Lola Espinoza

Success!