THE SETBACK

Life and personal issues keep getting in the way of a young athlete’s dogged efforts to qualify for an exclusive sports camp.

Having failed to make the cut for his small town’s baseball team, Liam Bradley’s disappointment is mixed with panic: He can’t be accepted for special training next summer at Camp Jackman unless he’s playing a competitive sport. Perhaps he can try out for something else? But local options are few, and the application deadline is looming. In this character-driven tale (most of the sports action is offstage), Leitch gives her determined but increasingly tense protagonist multiple challenges—both friend and girlfriend issues, a learning curve as sibling to a little sister with Type 1 diabetes, and a sixth grade classroom environment that frequently turns hellacious thanks to two troublemakers who go hog-wild whenever their ineffectual teacher ducks out to flirt with a colleague. Worried readers will be relieved by the end, though, since supportive comments from parents and classmates help Liam regain his emotional balance. He also mends fences with a longtime close friend and receives unexpected news that helps to compensate for having to defer his dream until next summer. Liam presents white. One of his new friends is a Pakistani Canadian transfer student from Nova Scotia, and names cue some further diversity in the supporting cast.

An accessible and encouraging take on staying the course.