From WNBA MVP, Olympic gold medalist, and global ambassador to the Special Olympics Elena Delle Donne comes the third novel in a middle grade series with as much heart as there is game. Elle is finally finding her groove and is excited about how her year is turning out. But when her team loses a major game against their rivals, Elle doesn’t know if basketball is worth it anymore. It feels like she can’t win—even when she’s improving and doing well, everyone always expects more from her. With her changing attitudes on basketball, will she let everyone she knows down if she decides to take a break? Elena Delle Donne has been a professional women’s basketball player since 2013, when she was selected by the Chicago Sky second overall in the WNBA draft. She was the 2015 WNBA MVP and won the gold medal with the USA’s women’s basketball team in the 2016 Olympics. She is the global ambassador for the Special Olympics and became the first national ambassador for the Lyme Research Alliance. Elena also plays host to De11e Donne Academy, a basketball camp that runs throughout the year, where she mentors and coaches girls ages seven to eighteen. She now plays for the Washington, DC, Mystics. Out of Bounds 1 It’s All About Pressure Reminder: You have basketball practice starting at 3:15, Elle! The message appeared on my cell phone screen when the last school bell of the day rang. Normally I wouldn’t need a reminder to go to basketball practice. There was no way I could forget that I had practice with my seventh-grade team, the Spring Meadow Nighthawks, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school, plus a game every Sunday. Basketball has been my life ever since third grade. But the reason why my phone was reminding me was because my best friend, Avery, had just downloaded a scheduling program for me. She’d just presented it to me a few hours ago during lunch in the cafeteria. And if it sounds strange that my best friend was scheduling my life for me, there’s a pretty good reason. Recently I almost had a meltdown because of all the things I was busy with: basketball, my new dog, volunteering, homework, helping my family, and hanging with friends. I had been getting bad grades, hurting my friends’ feelings, and psyching myself out on the court because I couldn’t figure out how to prioritize my time. Avery’s app looked like it was going to fix all that. And I owed my teammates on the Nighthawks a big thanks, too, because they had all offered to take volunteer slots at Camp Cooperation—an after-school program for kids with special needs. I had been volunteering there twice a week, but since my friends were helping out, I could cut down my days to two Tuesdays a month and free up time for the other things in my life. Today was Monday, and like the app said, I had basketball practice. We practice in the high school gym, which is just a short walk across a field from the middle school. That’s because the school I go to, Spring Meadow School, is a small, private school. It’s a K–12 school and there are three buildings on our campus: one for kids in K–5, one for kids in grades 6–8, and one for the high school. I’d been wanting to thank my teammates since Avery had told me the news at lunchtime. As we walked across the field together, I had my chance. “I want to thank you guys for volunteering at Camp Cooperation,” I said. “I had fun the day we all volunteered as a team,” Natalie said. “Those kids are cute.” “Especially your brother Pete, Caroline,” Dina remarked. Caroline’s brother Pete is eight years old and has Down syndrome. She and I recently bonded because I have a special needs sister too. But my sister, Beth, is older than I am, and she has different conditions than Pete does. “He’s cute if you only have to spend an hour a week with him,” Caroline joked. “But I am really glad that everyone on the team is going to take turns. I know Pete really loves the program—all the kids do.” Walking in front of me were two of our best players, Bianca and Tiff. “Yeah, Avery told us you needed help organizing your schedule,” Bianca said snidely. “Now maybe you can concentrate on your game.” I ignored the comment. Bianca is one of the tallest players on the team, but she’s still six inches shorter than I am (I’m six foot). At the start of the season, Coach Ramirez made me center and that really upset Bianca. She’s been calling me out ever since. Tiff is Bianca’s best friend, but she’s been a little bit nicer. “I told Avery that I’d help you study for science,” Tiff said. “Yeah, she told me,” I replied. “That would be great. Cellular biology is kicking my butt.” Tiff grinned. “Then we will kick its butt together!” We had reached the high school gym and headed for the locker room. I changed into my practice uniform and laced up my basketball shoes. I’d had to get new ones after my feet literally grew two sizes over the summer, which was probably the only thing I liked about my growth spurt