There was a time when all was right in Taylor Dresden's world -- that is, as long as she was on the baseball diamond, pitching with all her heart. But that was years ago. Now, as she heads toward her senior year, the magic is gone. There's no competition in her New Jersey high school, and summer league is not much better. With the scouts losing interest on account of her poor grades, and with the challenge of the game gone, Taylor has made a difficult decision: She won't be playing her senior year. Everything changes when a local, elite, all-boys prep school recruits Taylor for its own baseball team. One of the first three girls ever to attend, Taylor begins to see that she genuinely does have the opportunity to create some real change in her life, her way -- and just maybe for the better. But the Hazelton School is a rich boy's world, its student body run by the Statesmen -- an organisation determined to force Taylor and the other girls out of their school. Their leader, Sam Barrett, may well be more than he seems, but in a school where not only the sports, but the classes too, are harder than ever, Taylor may never have a chance to find out. Taylor knows she's a great pitcher, but can she be a great student? Can she succeed in the face of devious boys who will stop at nothing to get rid of her? Will she rise above them or sink to their level -- or will she be gone before she can do either? Singled Out, the exciting sequel to Thrown a Curve, will answer these questions as Taylor struggles to find her place beyond the pitcher's mound.

There was a time when all was right in Taylor Dresden's world -- that is, as long as she was on the baseball diamond, pitching with all her heart. But that was years ago. Now, as she heads toward her senior year, the magic is gone. There's no competition in her New Jersey high school, and summer league is not much better. With the scouts losing interest on account of her poor grades, and with the challenge of the game gone, Taylor has made a difficult decision: She won't be playing her senior year. Everything changes when a local, elite, all-boys prep school recruits Taylor for its own baseball team. One of the first three girls ever to attend, Taylor begins to see that she genuinely does have the opportunity to create some real change in her life, her way -- and just maybe for the better. But the Hazelton School is a rich boy's world, its student body run by the Statesmen -- an organisation determined to force Taylor and the other girls out of their school. Their leader, Sam Barrett, may well be more than he seems, but in a school where not only the sports, but the classes too, are harder than ever, Taylor may never have a chance to find out. Taylor knows she is a great pitcher, but can she be a great student? Can she succeed in the face of devious boys who will stop at nothing to get rid of her? Will she rise above them or sink to their level -- or will she be gone before she can do either? This is the exciting sequel to "Thrown a Curve".

She has never known her mother. Her father seems to hate her. She has only one true friend, who is a boy. A mediocre student and a social misfit, she is downright miserable. This is the life of Taylor Dresden, a freshman in a gritty New Jersey high school. The only pleasure she has ever had was playing baseball. But at the age of eight, she stopped playing when she overheard her dad say how embarrassed he was by her talent -- that it far exceeded his sons'. As a fourteen-year-old struggling to find her true self among the ruins of her life, Taylor is branded a juvenile delinquent after a single incident of vandalism, committed at her own school. Her guidance counsellor, instead of pressing charges on the school's behalf, offers her an alternate punishment -- join the baseball team and talk regularly to him. Forced to play baseball once again, Taylor feels that life has thrown her a few too many curves. None of the boys want her on the team. No girls are her friend. Her dad ignores her. Her one friend complicates their relationship by becoming a possible love interest. Eventually, after several baseball games and several sessions with her guidance counsellor, Taylor begins to gain the self-confidence she needs to straighten out her life. She realises she has real talent as a pitcher, especially with her killer curveball. She begins to accept the friendship of other girls. She starts to enjoy a romance with her best friend. She even attempts to improve the dreadful relationship she has with her distant dad. Taylor's story reflects the plight of every adolescent who has struggled with self-worth and identity, with relational problems between parents and peers, and with finding a niche in this imperfect world. Though Taylor is not a fairy-tale heroine, she gradually comes to know that no matter how many curves life throws at her, she is quite capable of throwing them right back.