WHOLE NEW BALL GAME

Product Description Middle school gets multiplied in this new series about twins Alex and Ava whose father is the coach of a small-town Texas football team!When twelve-year-old twins Alex and Ava Sackett move from the East Coast to Texas so their dad can coach an elite high school football team they have to get used to not only a whole new school and town but also the fame that comes with being football’s first family. They’ve got a plan to make it through: stick together!Because even though Alex and Ava are total opposites they’ve always stuck together. But then Ava cuts her hair short and Alex fears that Ava wants a new town to mean a new start-as an individual. At the same time Alex’s concern has Ava wondering if she’s no longer cool enough for her twin. Are Alex and Ava still the same dynamic duo they’ve always been or are they headed down different paths? Review The twin device is effectively deployed as each girl seeks to understand herself independently in relation to her twin and in the context of her new town; there's also appeal in the plot's sitcom elements of overheard conversations secret observations and all the uncertainty that comes with being a new place. ―The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books About the Author Belle Payton isn’t a twin herself but she does have twin brothers! She spent much of her childhood in the bleachers reading-er cheering them on-at their football games. Though she left the South long ago to become a children’s book editor in New York City Belle still drinks approximately a gallon of sweet tea a week and loves treating her friends to her famous homemade mac-and-cheese. Belle is the author of many books for children and tweens and is currently having a blast writing two sides to each It Takes Two story. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Whole New Ball GameCHAPTERONE“It’s soooo hot in Texas!”“It’s soooo hot in Texas!”Alex and Ava Sackett blurted out the same words at the same time. They did this a lot. Their mom always said it was a twin thing.“If someone handed me a pair of scissors right now I’d chop off my entire ponytail” said Ava.“Then I suppose it’s a good thing the scissors are still packed in a box somewhere” sighed their mother.Alex rolled her eyes. “Must you always speak in such hyperbole Ava?” She bumped her sister over a fraction of an inch. “Don’t hog the fan. And don’t even kid about chopping off your perfect gorgeous curls!”The two girls were sitting on the floor sprawled against the wall of their new living room sharing a single not-very-large fan.“Who’s kidding?” Ava replied bumping her sister back. “You have perfect gorgeous curls. My hair is just a giant pain.”“What are you talking about?” Alex asked indignantly. “We have the exact same hair!”As she spoke Alex patted her own hair as if to make sure it was still there. It was of course-piled into a topknot that was both stylish and practical in the scorching heat. Ava’s chocolate-brown curls on the other hand were gathered into a messy ponytail. Loose strands had escaped and were plastered to her neck making her even hotter. Ava couldn’t help but notice that Alex’s hair had stayed put on top of her head and wasn’t stuck to her neck.“Girls it’s too hot to bicker” said Mrs. Sackett. She’d given up trying to unpack the kitchen and was splayed in the one chair not stacked with boxes and other junk. She lifted the already-melting ice-filled bag from the top of her head and applied it to the sides of her neck like she was dabbing herself with perfume. “I’m sure your father will have the AC up and running any minute now.”From the office Alex and Ava’s older brother Tommy let loose a triumphant cry. He appeared in the doorway holding a second fan above his head like a wide receiver who’d just scored the winning touchdown. “Found it!” he said shoving a box out of the way to plug it in. H