National Network for Equitable Library Service

Beloved, award-winning author Carl Deuker serves up another fast-paced sports novel – this one about basketball and friendship. Nate plays soccer, but he doesn't love it. He plays because it's what his family expects. Then Lucas Cawley moves in across the street. Lucas isn't like any of Nate's sports friends – he's poor, his parents are mostly absent, and he's devoted to his sister, Megan, who has a learning disability. Lucas may be an outcast at school, but he and Nate find common ground in their fierce games of one-on-one basketball. It's not long before Nate realizes that basketball is his sport. But Nate has an ax to grind with star players Colin and Bo, who have disrespected him for years. Nate believes that outplaying those two is the most important thing... until he learns that life is about more than getting ready for the next game.