Game Changer by Margaret Haddix - ADVISABLE

Haddix, Margaret Peterson Game Changer, 247 pgs. Simon and Schuster, 2012. $16.99.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 "f"); Mature Content: G;  Violence: G. 

KT is an amazing softball pitcher and has her eye on playing for a good college and in the Olympics.  It all falls apart when she collapses at an important middle school tournament.  She looses consciousness and wakes up in another reality. The school, in this world, is exactly backwards .They only study athletics with academic teams as extra curricular. The story is about KT's struggle to understand and escape the new reality.  

I thought the book was a good thought provoking look at the importance we put on athletics in schools.  It also addresses the labels kids give each other in middle school and how harmful they can be.  It showed a model of kids speaking up about those issues and making a difference.  This would appeal to both softball fans and kids who don't feel a part of sports. 

EL, MS - ADVISABLE. Reviewer: DM