Gr 3–7 —Valeria is a 13-year-old athlete with skill, speed, and power who shines in her town, and on the boys' team, The Overlords. When adversity in the form of menstruation makes its appearance, more than soccer is upended in her life. She is rejected by her team and coaches who don't know how to handle her changing body. Her relationship with her grandfather sours (Abuelo is also a coach, and didn't defend Valeria's position on the team). This betrayal crushes her, and what follows is a toxic silence between grandfather and granddaughter. When Valeria joins a girls' team, she has a sisterhood to help her navigate menstruation and challenge the stigma associated with periods. While this novel touches on many relevant topics for young people, there is still the question of a father figure's silence and the damage done to a child. In the end, there is no explanation or discussion for why Valeria's abuelo abandoned her when she needed him most. At a certain point in the novel, the grandfather comforts Valeria after she commits a terrible foul on the pitch. The embrace is what readers are waiting for, but it feels unearned without an actual discussion of the pair's horrible silence that spanned a couple hundred pages. The author's prose excels at depicting f&0;tbol and its culture, as well as sisterhood in sports. But the depiction of a toxic male figure could benefit from more unpacking. VERDICT For middle grade readers who love complicated families, sports, and realistic fiction, this novel will be a strong fit.—Stephanie Creamer

A 12-year-old soccer star contends with joining an all-girls soccer team for the first timeValeria "Magic" Salomón is used to standing out as both the only girl in the league and the best player on the team in her Utah hometown. But the news that Tía Antonella has passed away in Argentina arrives just as Magic gets her first period and embarrassingly bleeds through her white shorts in front of everyone during a State Cup match. This perfect storm of calamities throws Magic off her game. After they lose, she's kicked off the team. Worse, her grandfather is the coach; Valeria has been raised by her paternal grandparents (she doesn't know her birth mother, and her father, who was 17 when she was born, lives in Argentina). Though she knows Abuelo is grieving for his daughter, Valeria still feels betrayed that he's let the assistant coach cut her, and she's increasingly frustrated by Abuelo's emotional distance. When Maxwell, Tía Antonella's son, joins them in the U.S. and is given her spot on her old team, Magic has had enough. This tough and resilient protagonist is easy to root for as she talks her way onto a girls' soccer team, despite having missed the tryouts. The narrative and action flow smoothly as Magic nervously navigates friendships with girls on her new team, adjusts to having a coach who prioritizes teamwork over relying on a hotshot, and navigates changing family dynamics at home.Fast paced and tenderhearted.(Fiction. 9-13)