KCC Ovations

"Sunday Money," a debut novel by Maggie Hill, who teaches composition, creative writing, and literature courses at KCC, hits bookstores on May 14, 2024. Set in the 1970s, the coming-of-age story tells how Claire's love of basketball helps her survive her spiraling Brooklyn working-class family, navigate the strict rules for "good" girls, and overcome the world's limited expectations for girls as she matures into a young woman.

 The novel also shows how the passage of Title IX in 1972 literally changed the playing field—and not just on the basketball court. According to the Federal civil rights law, “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Thanks to the enactment of Title IX, Claire’s future now has more options, including the possibility of receiving college athletic scholarships.

Hill drew inspiration from watching a WNBA game years ago. "I thought, wow! These girls are badasses," she said. "I played basketball, but nothing like that.” From there, the story started evolving.

 While writing the novel, Hill researched how big societal actions and movements like Attica, the Vietnam War, Governor Rockefeller, and, of course, Title IX, affected the lives of ordinary people.

 Hill, whose essays, short stories, and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Daily News, as well as several literary magazines, hadn’t intended on writing a novel-length story, but she found the story "insisted itself" on her, demanding to be told. “Actually, it wouldn't leave me alone," she admitted. “I wrote some basketball scenes and tried to link them together, but it didn’t hang right. Suddenly, a neighborhood, characters, desires, loves, hates…life…started happening on the pages.”

When asked what she hopes readers will take away from "Sunday Money," Hill said, "I hope they will feel immersed in the time period, in the game, and in a little girl's head. It would be awesome if a reader finished the book and thought, ‘Glad I read that!’"

Hill is 75 pages into her next novel, a "horrific, serial killer thing," demonstrating her writing versatility.

You can join the author at two Brooklyn kick-off events coming up to launch the book: The Bookmark Shoppe in Bay Ridge (8415 3rd Avenue) on May 14 at 7 p.m. and Barnes and Noble in Cobble Hill (194 Atlantic Avenue) on May 28 at 6:30 p.m.