"An unexpected tragedy at a community pool. A family's unrelenting expectation of victory. The
desire to gain or lose control to make time speed up or stop to be frighteningly undeniably
good at something. Each of the eight teenage girl boxers in this blistering debut novel has her
own reasons for the sacrifices she has made to come to Reno Nevada to compete to be named the
best in the country. Through a series of face-offs that are raw ecstatic and punctuated by
flashes of humor and tenderness prizewinning writer Rita Bullwinkel animates the competitors'
pasts and futures as they summon the emotion imagination and force of will required to win"--
