Inspired by the True Story of a Girl Who Fought for her Right to Play
by Natalie Corbett Sampson
Nimbus Publishing, 2019
ISBN 978-1-77108-777-3 (sc)
$12.95, 215 pp, ages 8 – 12
nimbus.ca
No Girls Allowed is a fictionalized account of the1970s struggle by ten-year-old athlete Tena Forbes, who just wanted to play organized hockey in Nova Scotia. Natalie Corbett Sampson has utilized interviews and court transcripts as the basis for this work, and mixed in a large dollop of cultural markers (from the Sears Christmas Wish Book to the CN Tower) that reflect the Canadian context. The young protagonist finds herself leaving Toronto with her older brother and parents for the Maritimes in the summer of 1977, but soon discovers there is only a boys’ hockey league available in Yarmouth. Her family members support her human rights complaint against the local league, although Forbes faces taunts at school and elsewhere for being a trailblazer for equity.
Classroom Connections: This is a well-written book with more than two dozen brief chapters, and the author has a way with a turn of phrase that authentically reflects the thought processes of a child suddenly immersed in a very stressful situation (that may have something to do with Sampson being a Nova Scotia “hockey mom” herself). For many young readers, accessible fact-based fiction can make history come alive in a way that a textbook simply cannot. I must admit I really enjoyed this work, and learned a lot from it (I thought Justine Blaney’s 1981 case in Toronto was the first of its kind, but apparently that is not true!). Unfortunately, there is no teacher guide for the book, but instructors looking for a novel that entertains and enlightens at the same time will find ways to employ this in junior/ intermediate classrooms.
Review by George Sheppard.
This book review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Spring 2021 issue.