A heartfelt story of passion, teamwork, and overcoming the odds.
A group of art students face their greatest challenge yet: being athletic.
Molly Bauer, a queer Black girl, is set to enter the Peachtree Institute of Collegiate Arts, her dream art college located in her hometown of Peachtree, North Carolina, on a full-ride scholarship. Unfortunately, due to various mishaps, Molly isn’t informed that her scholarship is no longer valid, and she’s shocked to learn that she owes $39,000 for her first year’s tuition. Her moms don’t have that kind of money. Desperate, she reviews the college’s scholarship documents and discovers a way to get free tuition—a sport scholarship given to every member of a team that wins a varsity-level game. Molly hatches a plan with her less-than-enthusiastic best friend, PICA dropout Ryan, who’s white. She convinces him to coach the softball team she pulls together—a racially diverse group of artists with varying degrees of athletic ability. Molly forms new friendships, but she learns things that change the way she views her hometown forever. The characters have well-developed personalities, and their interactions thoughtfully explore themes of teamwork, coming out of your shell, trusting in yourself, and learning to rely on others as the pressure to win a game mounts. The dynamic, full-color illustrations make effective use of varied perspectives and panel shapes, zooming in and out to ramp up the emotional tension and emphasize the nail-biting action on the field.
A heartfelt story of passion, teamwork, and overcoming the odds. (Graphic fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781250193513
Page Count: 288
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
A winning game of feelingsball.
A former football star, who never thought she’d play again after she came out as transgender, steps back onto the field for one last season to help her team win state.
Grace Woodhouse used to know where she belonged. She had Division I schools lined up to recruit her, but that was before what happened during playoffs last year, before she came out as trans, and before she quit the team. Although her single father and new friend group support her, Grace feels lost as her senior year begins. When one of her old teammates asks her to help him with his technique, she quickly realizes that he and the other captains are hoping for more than her expertise from the sidelines—they want her to rejoin the team. Grace can’t resist the opportunity to play again, but her return draws unwanted national attention that makes her question her future and who she wants to be. Flashback chapters written in the second-person present tense bring Grace’s past to life, which helps maintain momentum and makes her emotional journey feel more immersive. A heartfelt, goofy, and diverse cast of secondary characters surround Grace, who’s white, as she navigates self-doubt, friendship, complicated feelings for her ex-girlfriend, and what she wants to do after graduation. Overall, this coming-of-age sports narrative is honest, gentle, and hopeful.
A winning game of feelingsball. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781646145027
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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