Nikki on the line by Barbara Carroll Roberts

I'm making a concerted effort to add more middle school-friendly books - and more sports-themed books to my juvenile and young adult collection - and this books hits all those points and more.

Nikki, her little brother Sam, and their mom, a university librarian, are a close family. They aren't poor, but they "run a tight budget" as her mom likes to say. Even though Nikki finds her brother irritating and she and her mom don't really understand each other, they've always been a close family. But there are new challenges on the horizon. Nikki is desperate to join a basketball club team, with her best friend Adria, and her mom has never understood her love of sport. Her teacher has given them a family tree assignment which means that Nikki will have to reveal her most embarrassing secret - she and her brother were conceived by sperm donor.

Nikki manages to get things started off right; even though her mom is shocked by the expenses of the team, she agrees to Nikki watching Sam after school so they can afford the fees. Nikki's teacher is understanding and she tentatively starts befriending Booker, a boy who also has reasons to avoid the assignment. But then things get... difficult. Playing on a high-level team, in a different position, is more challenging than Nikki expected and between criticism from other players' parents and her own insecurities, she starts panicking. Adria is spending more time on expensive drills and practices with Kate, the team star, and Nikki feels like she's losing her best friend and her favorite sport.

There are no quick solutions, but with determination and the support of friends and family, Nikki works to fill her responsibilities and maintain her relationships, on and off the court.

I freely admit I skipped a lot of the basketball descriptions, but kids who like that sort of thing will certainly eat them up. The characters were great, no stereotypical mean girls, just ordinary kids struggling to deal with the new challenges of experiences and handle family difficulties. It was great to see a depiction of a family with financial constraints and I appreciated that Booker, who has an even more traumatic background, doesn't dismiss Nikki's own struggles and worries, although he does call her out when she starts to give up and make excuses.

Verdict: A great choice for kids who love sports and those who like realistic stories and need and want uplifting reads that challenge and inspire them. Recommended.

ISBN: 9780316521901; Published 2019 by Little Brown; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library