Relates how the lives of four children living in different parts of the country intersect and are affected by the events of September 11, 2001.

Basketball clinics, a revolving door of coaches, incensed parents, and the importance of the right sneakers—is that what the game is about? Told from the perspective of four unlikely friends, Nora Raleigh Baskin's poignant novel focuses on the action, drama, and fun of playing ball and explores what it takes to be a winner of the game—both on the court and off.

Unlike most children faced with the prospect of having a stepmother, Gabby Weiss isn't the slightest bit resistant to the idea. In fact, she wishes her father would hurry up and marry someone who knows about womanhood; someone who understands her worries about everything that is happening (or worse, not happening) to her body. For a while, it seems like Cleo, her father's girfriend, might fulfil this role. But when things fall apart, Gabby has to find her own solution. She decides to travel to the last place she saw her mother to try and reconstruct a memory of her. But what she finds there is something even better.