Synopsis

Perfect for fans of Laurie Morrison and Jenn Bishop, this lively middle-grade mystery follows a vibrant group of teens and tweens navigating grief, authenticity, and—above all—soccer, while taking an enjoyable romp through the Texas Hill Country.

Every year, spring in Texas means two very different things to sixth grader Cassaty her beloved Barons Creek High School soccer team, the Battling Billies, will contend for the state title, and the anniversary of her twin brother’s death will plunge her family into a deep, unspoken grief. But this year, the script changes when the Battling Billies’ star midfielder goes missing right before the playoffs begin. Presented with this mysterious disappearance, Cassaty seizes the chance to heroically bring the missing girl home—and hopefully, in doing so, help fill the hole her brother’s death left in her family so many years ago.

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Excerpt

The distance between the two prickly pears was perfect.

Just wide enough to kick a soccer ball between them.

Just narrow enough to really test a player’s skill.

The roar of the crowd rattled in my ears. Even though I was standing in my own front yard. My heart raced. The Texas high school state soccer championships hinged on this penalty kick.

Even if I was (actually) only a sixth-grader.

“Ka-tey! Ka-tey! Ka-tey!” I could hear my (imaginary) teammates chanting from behind me.

I was (in my dreams) Katey Korey — the most extraordinary midfielder to ever play high school soccer in central Texas.

I rolled my head around on my neck, the way I’d seen Katey do in countless games. I shrugged my shoulders, up and down and up and down. I shook my left foot. I shook my right. I inched my way to one side and then to the other.

I was determined that the opposing goalie (who existed only in my mind) would never be able to read my shot.

I stepped back.

I stepped back again.

I started to jog. I gained speed.

I pulled my left foot behind me and, just as I was about to stick the ball an inch inside the imaginary right post, a loud scream broke all my momentum.

“CASSATY GREENE, DON’T YOU DARE SHOOT THAT SOCCER BALL AT MY CACTI!”

Mom.

I was officially busted.

I’d been using the prickly pears as goalposts for weeks.

But now, the dream was over.

“Do you have any idea what would happen if that soccer ball landed on one of those?” she asked as I approached the stone front porch, ball in hand.

“But I wasn’t going to miss. I never miss.”

“You never —? What? Get in here. It’s time for supper.”

The screen door slammed behind us. While I was crushed my penalty kick practice had been thwarted, I was also secretly relieved to see Mom so concerned about her yard.

It was Spring, after all, the time of year when Mom stopped caring about much of anything.

         But maybe this year would be different?

Amelia and Dad were already at the table when I came into the kitchen. “Your hands clean?” Amelia asked.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re not my mother.”

“Someone has to be,” she muttered.

Either Mom and Dad didn’t hear her, or they acted like they didn’t.

“Which one of you girls is in school with the Korey kid?” Dad scooped a heaping serving of mashed potatoes onto his plate then scanned the table in search of something.

Mom handed him the butter and said, “I think their son Jack is in Cassaty’s class, right?”

“Yeah, Jack Korey’s in my grade,” I answered, spearing a particularly juicy looking piece of dark meat as I spoke. “Why?”

“I meant his sister. Katey. She’s gone missing.”

About the Author

Kristine Rudolph is a mom of three with two soccer-playing daughters, a left-winger and a defensive back who won her high school state championship in 2024. Kristine splits her time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Austin, Texas.

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