High school sophomore Annie Smith is just hoping to live a normal life after she moves from Arkansas to the quiet little town of Reston, Texas. But it does not take long for her new friends to figure out that Annie is anything but normal. Annie's goal is to fly under the radar drawing as little attention to herself as possible. But she soon discovers that being normal does not always bring happiness.

Melinda "Chip" Fullerton is a gifted athlete with two wishes-to be taller and to be on a good team for once. As she starts her junior year of high school, it looks like both her wishes will go unfulfilled-until Annie shows up. Immediately suspicious of Annie's baggy clothes and athletic abilities, Chip enlists Luke Slowinski, sports editor for the school newspaper, to do some undercover sleuth work that eventually reveals the truth: Annie is not who she appears to be.

This is a story that illustrates the importance of building character as well as talent, Annie soon learns that a new beginning is all she needs to finally embrace her true self.

From the critically acclaimed author of Amina's Voice comes the first book in an exciting new middle grade series about a fourth-grader with big dreams of basketball stardom. Fourth grader Zayd Saleem has some serious hoop dreams. He's not just going to be a professional basketball player. He's going to be a star. A legend. The first Pakistani-American kid to make it to the NBA. He knows this deep in his soul. It's his destiny. There are only a few small things in his way. For starters, Zayd's only on the D-team. (D stands for developmental, but to Zayd it's always felt like a bad grade or something.) Not to mention, he's a bit on the scrawny side, even for the fourth grade team. But his best friend Adam is on the Gold Team, and it's Zayd's dream for the two of them to play together. His mom and dad don't get it. They want him to practice his violin way more than his jump shot. When he gets caught blowing off his violin lessons to practice, Zayd's parents lay down the ultimate punishment: he has to hang up his high tops and isn't allowed to play basketball anymore. As tryouts for the Gold Team approach, Zayd has to find the courage to stand up for himself and chase his dream.