Alice is fifteen and an outstanding athlete, but she struggles with her self-image, family, and romance. She does not know she is pretty, hiding in huge sweatshirts and behind long hair, and Alice does not know how to deal with boys. But she is also smart, tough, and thoughtful. Her life is complicated by her coming to terms with her substantial athletic skills and then the specter of a teammate’s illness. Set over the course of a cross country running season, the book presents Alice's experiences and decisions as she finds and resolves them, from minor to life altering.
Women and girls are serious athletes today and this book addresses the issues with which a young female athlete deals. The strong competitive urge, the pressure to win and yet not to upset the status quo. The need to be thin and feminine even as you build up and break down your body daily. Her teammate’s illness shows Alice and the reader a true breakdown, the loss of the beauty and youth that Alice only realizes she has by the end of the novel.
Alice learns that it takes courage to give in to the best in oneself, that it takes courage to truly live.
Women and girls are serious athletes today and this book addresses the issues with which a young female athlete deals. The strong competitive urge, the pressure to win and yet not to upset the status quo. The need to be thin and feminine even as you build up and break down your body daily. Her teammate’s illness shows Alice and the reader a true breakdown, the loss of the beauty and youth that Alice only realizes she has by the end of the novel.
Alice learns that it takes courage to give in to the best in oneself, that it takes courage to truly live.
