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  • Published: 20 May 2025
  • ISBN: 9780593696880
  • Imprint: Putnam
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $21.99

Playing for Keeps




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   

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?

  • Published: 20 May 2025
  • ISBN: 9780593696880
  • Imprint: Putnam
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $21.99

About the 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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Praise for Playing for Keeps

Praise for Playing for Keeps:

"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] 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