About the Book
Addie Coleburn, fresh out of the sixth grade, is spending the summer at her grandmotherâs house in Syracuse with her mother and brother. Kimi Takahashi, a girl who lives up the street, invites Addie to go to the park and play lacrosse. Addie hasnât the first clue what lacrosse is and would rather sit on Grandmaâs front porch eating potato chips, drinking sodas, and reading books. But then again, spending the summer dealing with her younger brother isnât that appealing, either, so she goes to the park with Kimi. Within a week, sheâs hooked on lacrosse. Sheâs overweight and canât keep up with the faster stronger girls. She has to find a way to lose her excess weight and lose it fast or risk getting cut from the team.
Excerpt
Addie sat down in Grandmaâs chair on the screened-in front porch. Grandma called it a glider because it rocked front to back, not like a rocking chair which lifted you up and back. Grandmaâs gardening junk sat in a pile in one dark corner, but the rest of the porch was open and airy. Steps led off the porch to the gravel driveway where her grandmaâs blue four-door car sat in front of her motherâs awesomely uncool green minivan.
Most of the screens on the porch were torn and flapping in the light breeze, but Addie didnât care. Sheâd finally found peace. She pushed the full ashtray away and put her book down on the grimy side table. She munched on a few chips and then popped the top to her soda and took a long swig.
âAhh.â She sighed. âThatâs more like it.â
The stink of the overflowing ashtray ruined the mood a little, so she pushed it further away. It still wasnât better, but she didnât feel like getting up to move it to the other side of the porch.
She dug heartily into the chips and scooped up the few that fell in her lap. âMustnât waste food,â Grandma always said. As far as Addie was concerned, that included potato chips. With another swig of soda and a satisfying burp, she rolled the top of the crinkly chip bag closed and clipped it shut. She tossed it on the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she rubbed her greasy hands on her cutoff denim shorts. Another quick chug of soda and she was ready to find out how Captain Janeway and her crew were going to get out of the mess they were in.
She dug into her book and was deeply mesmerized by the battle with the Kazon when her spider senses tingled. The music. It had stopped. The jerk was probably sneaking up on her. He had recently decided to be a ninja assassin. Fifth graders were so immature. She would have rolled her eyes, but couldnât. She needed to stay focused. She held the book out in front of her as if she were still reading, and used her side vision to see if she could spot movement. Yep, there he was. Near the stairs to the driveway. She could see the top of his head, covered with a ridiculous black ski cap.
With a yell, Troy leaped up the stairs at her. Addie lunged for the ashtray and flung it at him. Score! It hit him right in the chest, ashes poofing up everywhere.
âPfft,â he sputtered, spitting ashes from his mouth. He smacked at his Metallica shirt, trying to get the residue off. âWhatâd you do that for?â
ââCuz youâre a jerk.â She didnât tell him that his whole face was covered with ash.
âYouâre such a lardo, you fatty fatso.â
âHey! Mom said youâre not supposed to call me that.â
âIâm telling.â Troy flung open the kitchen door and ran inside. âMom!â
âOh, no,â Addie muttered and leaped up.
Sometimes she didnât think about the consequences of the things she did. She frantically kicked the cigarette butts under the glider. Then she spotted a broom and dustpan in the dark corner too late. It was just like the one they had at home.
Home. Addie forgot to be afraid of her mother at that moment. Where was her home? Here in stupid Syracuse or back home with Daddy? She sat down hard on the glider. Her chest tightened as her heart broke for the millionth time. Were her parents going to get a divorce? Maybe if she hadnât fought with the jerk so much, maybe if sheâd cleaned her room when her mother told her to, maybe if she had done a thousand other things . . . maybe they could be a family again.
âThat was good,â a voice said from the sidewalk. âI think you won that round.â
Addie wiped at her tears and looked up. A girl about her age, wearing running shorts and a tank top, smiled at her from the sidewalk. She recognized the girl. She was one of the neighborhood kids who played down the street. The girlâs long black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She held a sports bag in one hand and two weird stick things in the other.
âYou saw that?â Addie said with a laugh, although she didnât really feel like laughing. Her mother might come storming out to yell at her any second.
âLittle brothers can be a pain, huh?â The girl smiled. She was kind of exotic looking, like she was Chinese or something.
âNo kidding,â Addie said. âDo you have one? A jerk brother?â
âNah. But my friend Brooke does. I donât know if heâs a jerk, but he can be a pain sometimes.â
Addie was about to ask the girl about the weird-looking sticks when she heard Grandma yell, âTroy, go upstairs and get cleaned up. You know not to bother us when weâre watching TV.â
Troy started to protest, but her mother interrupted. âTroy, listen to Grandma. Go upstairs and stop picking on your sister. I canât hear myself think around here.â
âSee,â the girl said, âyou won.â
âI think youâre right.â
âHey,â the girl lifted the sticks, âdo you play?â
âPlay what?â
The girlâs jaw dropped open as if Addie had said the dumbest thing in the world. âLax.â
Addie still didnât know what the girl was talking about.
âLacrosse,â the girl said slowly as if talking to an idiot.
âOh, Iâve heard of that.â Addie hopped down the steps toward the girl.
âItâs a great game.â The girl held her sticks up. âLacrosseâsoftballâs bigger, meaner, tougher older sister.â
Addie laughed. She knew only a tiny bit more about softball than she did lacrosse.
âDo you want to come to the park and play with us?â the girl asked. âI have an extra stick you can borrow.â She lifted the sticks higher.
Addie hesitated. She didnât know this girl standing in front of her grandmotherâs house. She didnât even know where the park was. And she didnât know if she wanted to play a sport. It was a beautiful June afternoon for reading science fiction. She looked at her book and then at the kitchen door. Crud, why not? It beat hanging around waiting for another ninja attack.
âLet me tell my mom.â Addie turned toward the porch, but then turned back. âWait, whatâs your name?â
âAkimi Takahashi.â The girl held her head high as if proud of her name.
âIs that Chinese or something?â
âJapanese. My fatherâs Japanese and my motherâs, uh, white. Most people just call me Kimi.â
âThatâs cool. Iâm Addison Coleburn. Most people call me Addie.â
âNice to meet you, Addie. So do you want to play?â Kimi turned toward the sidewalk. She was obviously in hurry.
âOkay.â Addie raced up the porch steps and called into the kitchen screen door, âMom, Iâm going to the park with Kimi. Iâll be back for dinner.â
âOkay,â came her momâs quick reply from the couch.
âThat was easy,â Addie muttered and headed back down the steps.
âYouâll like lacrosse.â Kimi linked arms with Addie. âItâs the best game on the planet.â