SINGLED OUT

Taylor, 17, has great talent as a baseball pitcher. However, Taylor is a girl who’s just earned a scholarship to a posh, historically all-boys’ school. There she has a chance to improve her normally abysmal academic performance and to attract the attention of important college scouts. She finds the baseball easy and the academics challenging, but she quickly learns about her real difficulty: avoiding the traps set by a clique of boys that dominates the school. The boys want Taylor and two other new girl students out. First they frame Gabby, the new girl basketball player, as a thief. Taylor knows she’s next. She doesn’t believe she can trust Sam, who appears to be the leader of the clique, although he saves her from their first attempt. Is Sam friend or foe? Griffiths writes in deliberately unadorned prose in order to attract reluctant readers. Her story, however, reflects Taylor’s dignity and never panders to immature readers, demonstrating a keen understanding of and respect for her audience. Her sentences may be simple, but her story is not. Taylor shows courage and determination as she remains wary of her fellow students yet decides to risk taking Sam’s offered help. The suspense will keep even reluctant readers hooked as Taylor seeks both revenge and success. A solid effort with appeal to a wide audience. (Fiction. 12 & up)