BLOWING BUBBLES WITH THE ENEMY

Despite the fact that she's a girl, Bobby Lorimer (newly arrived at Jefferson Middle School) is as determined to play on the boys' basketball team as Coach Briley is to keep her off. She's angry and hurt when her brother Tim compromises loyalty and fair play to keep his own place on the Jaguars; and she's confused by the behavior of budding romantic interest Leslie Crane (of My Brother the Star and Crane's Rebound, both 1991), who resents her plan to try for the team. Rejected by the boys' coach, Bobby (blowing Hubba Bubba to dispel nervous energy) reluctantly turns her superior talents to the recently formed, inadequate girls' team. A school newspaper editorial draws new players and motivates the team until the girls are ready for a grudge match against the Jaguars—which they lose, but triumphantly, determined to compete in the wider female arena and take on the boys again next year. Readers expecting a feminist statement will get a mixed message—the coach's blatant unfairness is accepted with minimal protest, and the girls dissolve in tears after the game—but they'll enjoy Bobby's breezy voice, admire her gumption, and share her confusion over the awkwardness of boy/girl relationships. (Fiction. 8-12)