HARD COURT

Competitive action aplenty drives the continuation of Dawson’s celebration of hard work, teamwork, and the joy of winning to a triumphant close.

Switching back and forth using flashbacks keyed to a change of palette, the author twines two storylines—one featuring Lori Block, who is now a sixth grader sharpening her b-ball skills on both a travel team and rec league squads, and the other looking back at her mom at roughly the same age riding roughshod over both opponents and teammates on the soccer pitch. Along with dishing out mixes of precisely drawn technical pointers and fast break action in the tight but easily legible panels, the author fills the interludes between practices and games with stressful family changes for both girls. He also gives both such identically fierce, intense expressions when they’re playing that it may come as a surprise to readers to see Lori and opponent Elyse exchanging grins after a hard-fought game or her mom and stepaunt Miriam laughing at a Passover seder over their once-fraught experiences as teammates and stepsisters. The reminder that amateur sports should be, above all else, fun is well taken. Also salutary is the appended graphic salute to Title IX’s half-century of impact. Lori and her family are White; the supporting cast of teachers, coaches, young players, and other students is portrayed with a mix of light and dark skin.

Buoyant and breathless, scoring on several levels.