Jake Maddox JV girls

When eighth grade basketball player Shaena suffers a concussion in a game, she finds herself sidelined two weeks before the big game--and as she watches her team practice with the new freshman player, Shaena, who is used to being the star, starts to worry that by the time she recovers she will no longer be needed.

Ninth-grade hockey player Kyla Woodson is hoping to win a spot on the varsity team mid-season--but she has at least one serious rival for the coveted position, and her supressed anger over her parents recent divorce seems to keep getting in the way.

Twelve-year-old Maggie (Magnolia) and her twin sister Beatrice are both figure skaters, but Maggie is trying to find her own style (for instance, cutting her hair and dying it blue) while her sister remains firmly under their uptight mother's thumb--so when their old coach leaves and a man takes over, Maggie seizes the opportunity to try out some of the new spins she has been creating, even if it means upstaging her twin.

Because she is now over six feet tall everybody expects Juniper to be good at basketball, especially her demanding coach (who also happens to be her father)--but she is not sure that she even likes basketball, and she definitely does not like the pressure that she feels when she misses a shot and her father benches her.

Middle school student Brielle has been doing gymnastics with her best friend Naomi for years, but this year she also wants to join the competitive cheerleading team, and that means she will be spending most of her "free" time practicing while still keeping up with her schoolwork; but soon the stress starts getting to her and Brielle realizes she will have to make a choice--disappoint her new team, or let down her best friend.

Late for practice at the ice arena, thirteen-year-old Eva Chen neglects to warm up and suffers a concussion when she falls during a difficult jump; frustrated at missing practice time, and worried about doing her routine at the family showcase, in front of a full arena, her parents, and her grandmother, Eva does not need any extra threats to her confidence--for instance, discovering that some of the other girls are laughing at her Chinese heritage....

When Liv Sutcliffe's hair-trigger temper gets her tossed off her beloved soccer team and alienates her best friend, Liv realizes that she has to do something about her anger issues; so she takes a class in mindfulness and ends up coaching her teacher's son, Damien, in soccer moves--but will her efforts at anger management be successful enough get her reinstated before the big game?

Thirteen-year-old Aniyah's mother and all of her aunts went to historically Black universities and were drill and step team members, but Aniyah does not like performing and has avoided stepping, until her friend Stacy convinces her that now they are entering eighth grade they should both join the school step club which does not compete; Aniyah discovers that stepping can be fun--but when the club decides to enter a competition all of Aniyah's fears...

Twelve-year-old Yasmin, a talented point guard on her school basketball team, learns about teamwork and standing up for oneself when she experiences racism at her new middle school.