From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone comes a challenging and heartwarming coming-of-age story about a softball player looking to prove herself on and off the field.
Shenice Lockwood, captain of the Fulton Firebirds, is hyper-focused when she steps up to the plate. Nothing can stop her from leading her team to the U12 fast-pitch softball regional championship. But life has thrown some curveballs her way.
Strike one: As the sole team of all-brown faces, Shenice and the Firebirds have to work twice as hard to prove that Black girls belong at bat.
Strike two: Shenice s focus gets shaken when her great-uncle Jack reveals that a career-ending and family-name-ruining crime may have been a setup.
Strike three: Broken focus means mistakes on the field. And Shenice s teammates are beginning to wonder if she s captain-qualified.
It's up to Shenice to discover the truth about her family s past and fast before secrets take the Firebirds out of the game forever.
Sports, suspense, mystery, history... What more could you want? A funny, charming page-turner. Adam Gidwitz, New York Times bestselling author