I Lost To A Girl

Book excerpt: Shelby Hoffman feels like no one in Molly Pitcher High School wants her on the boy's wrestling team. Her father is the principal of the school and not even he understands why she likes wrestling. On top of that, to keep a spot on the team, Shelby has to wrestle above her weight and she feels more like a placeholder, than a varsity wrestler. At least until Mike transfers to Molly Pitcher from Florida and walks onto the team. He was facing expulsion at his high school in Florida and needs a fresh start in New Jersey. Battling an unstable home life and a mother struggling with her own problems, he is doing all he can to not get into another fight at school. But, at Molly Pitcher, being the "new guy" isn't easy. It's only his unexpected friendship with Shelby that keeps his focus on wrestling his opponents and not sabotaging himself. With a few extra practices, Mike convinces Shelby that she can wrestle to win and to take her weight-class back from the team's captain, her "unofficial" boyfriend. On the wrestling mat, they learn about the high cost of victory, equality and fairness.