Puerto Rican American middle schooler Vale’s identity is largely tied to being an ultra-competitive, nationally ranked junior fencer. But an accident has left her with the lasting effects of a serious leg injury. Vale has not only lost valuable time away from fencing, but she may be facing a lifetime of chronic pain. The fact that she’s still healing on her first day back at training isn’t the only thing that worries her; she was once the best among her training peers, but now there’s a new fencer, Myrka (Cuban American), who’s as good as Vale was pre-accident. This novel in verses deftly traverses Vale’s emotional landscape as she experiences feelings on many fronts. She wonders whether she is now disabled—a topic explored with sensitivity and nuance. She is jealous of Myrka, who has considerable fencing skills despite an attitude not nearly as competitive as Vale’s own, and on whom she is also developing a crush. Her complicated feelings extend to her loving, supportive parents and big brother Luis Manuel, whose suggestions about her recovery are well-meant but sometimes misguided or make Vale feel unseen. A new friend at school becomes someone in whom Vale can confide in about her fears of life without fencing and process her budding crush on Myrka. The poetic text zings with Vale’s frustrations, grief, and growth in the face of uncertainty in the present and going forward. (Ages 9-13)

A poignant novel in verse in which, after a life-changing accident, one girl finds her way back to her life’s passion. From the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All.

All these months of staring at the wall?
All these months of feeling weak?
It’s ending—
I’m going back to fencing.
And then it’ll be
like nothing ever happened.

No one knows hard work and dedication like Valentina Camacho. And Vale’s thing is fencing. She’s the top athlete at her fencing gym. Or she was . . . until the accident.

After months away, Vale is finally cleared to fence again, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move the way it used to, and worst of all is the new number one: Myrka. When she sweeps Vale aside with her perfect form and easy smile, Vale just can’t accept that. But the harder Vale fights to catch up, the more she realizes her injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t leave her accident in the past, then what does she have to look forward to?

In this moving novel from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All, one girl finds her way back to her life’s passion and discovers that the sum of a person's achievements doesn’t amount to the whole of them.