Reversal

Fourteen-year-old Kayla Burbadge has had one tough life. She's lost her parents, been forced to move from bustling Chicago to a small Indiana farm town, and starts high school with no friends. How tough is she? When a janitor sees her fighting an older boy who made the mistake of picking on her, the janitor offers her a unique opportunity. Reluctantly, Kayla accepts, and the new kid in school becomes the first and only girl to compete in a male-dominated environment. As Kayla battles her way through her new endeavor, her self-confidence grows as she bonds with her new allies. Her emotional growth helps her connect with her new family and display empathy for other students who are suffering. In the end, she faces a final pivotal challenge-a challenge that means not only a victory for her, but a job for the mentor who believed in her. Reversal is a realistic present-day novel which merges the genres of a coming-of-age drama and action-driven sports story. The novel explores the themes of family, home, community, unlikely heroes, discovering one's voice, and finding one's equilibrium after a big life event.