To order an autographed copy of Finding a Way to Play, click the Buy Now button.
In Finding a Way to Play, you will read about the women who have gone to great lengths to play the game of basketball:
* The earliest pioneers who played despite concerns about risks to their health and femininity
* Black and Native American women who endured racial discrimination as they searched for opportunities to play
* Lesbians who hid their identities for fear of being denied the chance to play
* Women over 50 who ignored aches and pains to rediscover the joys of a childhood passion.
Young adults who read this book will come away with an understanding of the roads their great-grandmothers, grandmothers, and their own mothers traveled to bring the game into the future. Those who grew up before Title IX may find themselves or loved ones in the stories of women who kept the earliest flame alive and grew the game for their daughters to enjoy.
Here is what ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan has to say about the book:
“Joanne Lannin has played and covered the game of basketball with great fervor and passion, and in her new book she captures the spirit of the women who pioneered the sport she treasures. Their stories are inspiring, heartbreaking and infuriating, and they spring to life with the author’s steady voice guiding the way. If you love the game, you’ll love this book.”
For more information, contact Jo Lannin at jolannin@gmail.com.
7 Comments
Finding a Way to Play 
Are there any other ways to order this other than paypal? I would love to get a copy for my HS library, but it has to be done differently re my District (RSU57)
Hi Lorna,
My book is available on Amazon.com as well. Several local bookstores also carry it: the Bookworm in Gorham, Nonesuch Books in South Portland, and Longfellow Books in Portland are probably the closest to you. Hope that helps.
Thanks for your interest!
Joanne
Joanne,
I bought your book, Finding A Way To Play, at Not Too Late basketball camp! I love this book, it addresses every issue about women’s basketball! I didn’t get to play in high school and I always felt cheated! But as the book says, I found a way to play in college, coaching and now playing seniors! Thank you so much, I will share with all teammates!
Donna Dubbelde (Chicago Skyryders)
Thanks Donna!
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I just discovered your book this fall of 2016, and asked for it for Christmas, and Santa was good to me. I have had an interest in women’s basketball for some time, and in your book I learned a lot. Your most powerful and well-written chapter was “Out in the Open,” as I was completely unaware of the subject (my mind was heavily involved in much earlier decades). Bravo, you did a terrific job. I wish I had your book back in 2011, when I was finishing up my book on high school sports, Rise of American High School Sports and the Search for Control, 1880-1930, because then I would have incorporated your findings on early Maine high school ball for girls, as well as your California coverage.I have two chapters in my book on high school basketball for girls, which I cover early high school basketball in New York, Boston, Chicago, Minnesota (there is a whole book on the subject), Kentucky, California, Philadelphia (there is a whole dissertation on it), Texas, and West Virginia). I think your book could have benefitted from seeing my book, as well as the dissertation on Philadelphia girls high school sports. Right now, I have been doing a lot of research (but not publishing, only presentations) on Amateur women’s basketball in Chicago between World War I and World War II, which would be a revelation to you. The women played men’s rules basketball, and several of the teams toured Canada and the United States. At NASSH, in 2015, I gave a presentation on the Central AAU men’s rules tournament for women in Chicago, and Susan Kahn was in the audience. Later in the day, at question time after her keynote address, someone asked what more needed to be done on the history of women’s basketball. She looked in the direction of me and said that the work Robert Pruter was doing on working women in basketball is what historians on women basketball need to be doing. My chest puffed up. With regard to African American women and basketball, I have just had my essay on Isadore Channels published, in which I uncovered her missing biography. To sum up, I applaud you for the publication of your book, and effort and expense you went through to get it published. It will long be a prized book in my sport history collection.
Hi Robert,
Thanks for your kind words! You’ve done some amazing research! I did actually have some details about a big women’s bball tournament in Chicago in the time period you mention, as it related to one of the players I was writing about, but I’d love to know more, as well. Thanks again!