Showing results by author "Kathleen Leatherbarrow" in All Categories

It is my father’s fault that I love soccer so much. He doesn’t know much about girls, but as a former professional soccer player, we built a bond as he perfected my skills. My aunties have kept an extra eye on me since my mother died. I’ve avoided their insistence on dance classes that would take precious time away from my beloved girls’ soccer team.

Samantha Rose Bullet, a tiny cooper-haired oddity, skateboards at Venice Beach every chance she gets. In a sport dominated by boys, she attempts to fit in. Even her awesome moves fail to get their attention as they laugh and tell her to practice on the beginner’s course. Life at school is not any easier as her would-be girlfriends let her know she does doesn’t fit in with their image of a fashion plate. Her first skateboarding tournament is days away. She knows this could be her chance to gain respect and prove that skateboarding is a sport for all, including girls.

In the middle-grade story, Soccer Is Everything, Pedro and Esperanza’s love of soccer brings frustration as their poor ocean-side town in Mexico has little opportunity for their talents. Alejandro Vargas, fresh from an unfair prison sentence, gives them opportunity and hope as he forms the first team in the town’s new league. Losing is not in his playbook, and he will accept only those players willing to give the team their all. But a girl on an all-boys team is not in coach’s playbook either. Pedro’s earlier experience has shown him not to bypass a girl’s talent.