Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Memoirs

THE KEEPER

Kelcey Ervick

Soccer, Me, and the Law that Changed Women's History

A beautifully illustrated coming-of-age graphic memoir chronicling how sports shaped one young girl's life and changed women's history forever.

Growing up playing on a top national soccer team in the 1980s, Kelcey Ervick and her teammates didn't understand the change they represented. Title IX was enacted in 1972 with little fanfare, but to seismic effect; between then and now, girls' participation in organized sports has exploded more than 1000 percent. Braiding together personal narrative, pop culture, literature, and history, Ervick tells the story of how her adolescence was shaped by this boom. Ervick also explores her role as a goalkeeper, revealing that the position has drawn some of the most famed writers of our time. With wit and poignant storytelling, THE KEEPER brings to life forgotten figures who understood the importance of athletics to help women step into their confidence and power - and push for equality.

THE KEEPER is a celebration of how far we have come and a reminder for how far we have to go. This captivating blend of memoir and women's history calls to mind the seeking honesty of Alison Bechdel, the mischievous charm of Notorious RBG and the accessible appeal of Rachel Ignatofsky's Women in Sports, Women in Science, Women in Art - all bestsellers. THE KEEPER has the potential to appeal to women of all ages, including young readers.

Kelcey Ervick is a featured comics artist for The Rumpus, where her "Suffragette City" series in 2019 drew enormous attention. Her work also appears in the The Believer and Nashville Review. She is the award-winning author of three books of fiction and nonfiction that focus on lives of lesser-known historical women, and she is currently co-editing (with bestselling graphic memoirist Tom Hart) Field Guide to Graphic Literature (Rose Metal Press, 2022). She teaches creative writing at Indiana University South Bend.

Available products
Book Published 2022-09-08 by Avery

Comments

The Keeper is a winner. You don't have to be an athlete to appreciate this inspiring graphic memoir. Not only does it offer page after page of beautiful artwork, but The Keeper is a young woman's coming-of-age story, it's a history lesson, and a call to action. Kelcey Ervick accomplishes a magical feat found in the best of memoirs - she's depicted a life's journey that's completely original, while also making it feel universal. To say I loved this book is an understatement.

I am so glad to have read this marvelous book. I loved drinking in the paintings, and am so in awe of Ervick's artistry, and her amazing story as an athlete and writer, but also The Keeper helped me comprehend more deeply the women who organized and fought (and played soccer and took a knee) for rights and justice in our time. This book is profoundly great and necessary right now.

The Keeper is a beautifully illustrated story about growing up in America. Part memoir, part essay, part archive, and part documentary, Ervick masterfully blends a moving coming of age story with an illuminating history of Title IX and women's access to sports. By examining old diaries, photographs, videos, and other ephemera, Ervick generously shares her process of realizing the many aspects of her identity: athlete and artist, mother and writer, wife and individual. The Keeper is a timely work, full of heart.

I didn't know I'd be embarking on an adventure into history, pop culture, tender storytelling, and sharp wit when I started The Keeper. I know nothing about sports, but I was hanging on every word (and gorgeous drawings). Kelcey Ervick's story is fascinating and relatable for any of us who have ever journeyed into identity within the limiting structures of society, and she gives us a delightful roadmap for finding our own way. The Keeper is so entertaining and so moving that I wasn't sure if I should tear up or giggle on any given page, and so informative that I was left in total awe by the end.

The Keeper is a triumph! Kelcey Ervick's rollicking visual storytelling makes this information-packed lesson in women's sports history both hilarious and surprisingly moving. Do not be deceived by her loose, exuberant drawings--the level of writerly control at play in this beautiful book is prodigious.

Ervick volleys an ebullient celebration of girls' soccer that blends personal memoir and sports history into a work of disarming emotional power.... a winning argument for women's sports as a gateway to freedom and self-determination.

Kelcey Ervick's The Keeper offers a fascinating look at important figures through history who have pushed for equal standing for women in sports - a fight that continues today. But this book is also about sisterhood and the sacred bonds between teammates. It's about the love of the game and the deep sense of joy and power it provides. It's about the collective strength of women and how we have built on each other's achievements, one generation passing the baton to the next, to ensure a future without limits for the girls who will follow. The Keeper is equal parts inspiration and motivation.

If Alison Bechdel were a goalkeeper, this is the memoir she would have written - dueling bitter and sweet, The Keeper is a feminist anthem and a writer's coming-of-age in a graphic disguise. It's a book for the athlete in your house - and maybe for the athlete you were told you couldn't really be.