Spike It!: Can Jamie Learn to live with Her New Stepsister? (Matt Christopher Sports Classics)

Unhappy at having to share space and family with her new stepsister Michaela when her father remarries, thirteen-year-old Jamie is further dismayed when Michaela joins her volleyball team and becomes a star player.

Grade 5-8Eighth-grader Jamie Bonner is one of the stars of the East Side Middle School volleyball team. Only five days before remarrying, her widowed father announces the big news to his daughters. For Jamie, adjusting to her new 13-year-old stepsister is more of a shock than the marriage. Michaela seems to be perfecttall, pretty, smart, talentedand soon seems to take over Jamies life, including her bedroom, friends, and the boy she likes. At least Jamie still has her volleyball to herself. But after one of her teammates sprains her wrist, guess who joins the teamand, of course, is perfect at volleyball, too. Eventually, Jamie realizes that Michaela is also adjusting to a new life and family, and all ends happily. The story captures typical kid-speak dialogue, and the resolution of the blended familys adjustments and difficulties are believable. Theres enough action and mild teen angst to satisfy many readers, especially those yearning for sports fiction not dominated by boys.Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI
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